Former Ultimate Fighter winner Mairon Santos will face undefeated phenom Akbar Abdullaev at UFC Saudi Arabia.
The upcoming UFC Saudi Arabia event takes place on December 5 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mairon Santos vs. Akbar Abdullaev Added to UFC Saudi Arabia
AG Fight first reported that Santos vs. Abdullaev will take place on the UFC Saudi Arabia card. Per Heavy.com’s Marcel Dorff, the fight will be contested at 155 lbs, as Santos will be moving up in weight for this fight after missing weight in his last bout at featherweight.
Fun Lightweight Fight for UFC Saudi Arabia
Santos is 26 years old, and the former Ultimate Fighter winner has a terrific 17-1 record in MMA, including a perfect 4-0 record inside the Octagon.
He won TUF with a win by knockout over Kaan Ofli in August 2024, then followed that up with a controversial split-decision victory over Francis Marshall in March 2025. Santos then picked up a huge win over Sodiq Yusuff in May 2025 in a lightweight contest. He moved back down to featherweight and knocked out Muhammad Naimov at UFC 323 in December 2025, but Santos missed weight for that bout.
Santos was then supposed to fight Nathaniel Wood at UFC Paris in September, but he withdrew from the fight and was replaced by Pavel Andrusca, who ended up pulling off an upset win and beating Wood that night.
While the Wood fight was supposed to take place at featherweight, Santos has decided to move up to lightweight, and it’s likely a good move for his career, as the cut to 145 lbs was clearly becoming too much for his body to handle.
As for Abduallaev, the Kyrgyzstani native is 14-0 in his MMA career, with all 14 of his wins coming by stoppage. He earned an incredible knockout win in just 19 seconds against Ednilson Santos on DWCS this summer to get a UFC contract, and now he will get his first fight inside the Octagon.
Despite Santos having a perfect 4-0 UFC record, there is so much hype on Abdullaev right now that fans should expect him to be the betting favorite despite this being his UFC debut.
Mairon Santos Faces Undefeated Phenom at UFC Saudi Arabia