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March 28 (UPI) -- Middleweights Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker will headline the first UFC event ever held in Saudi Arabia, UFC president Dana White announced. White announced Wednesday on Instagram and X that the event will air live -- for free -- June 22 on ABC. The fights will be held at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital city.
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Preliminary action will start at noon EDT on ESPN and ESPN+. The main-card broadcast is expected to start at 3 p.m. on ABC and ESPN+.
"Our first fight in the Kingdom will be a fight night that will air live and free on ABC," White said in a video posted to social media.
"The main event will be former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker (26-7) versus 13-0, undefeated Khamzat Chimaev to see who will be the No. 1 contender for the UFC middleweight championship."
White said the co-main event will feature No. 6-ranked heavyweight Alexander Volkov (37-10) and No. 3 Sergei Pavlovich (18-2). Kelvin Gastelum (18-9) will battle fellow welterweight Daniel Rodriguez (17-4) in another matchup.
No. 7 light heavyweight Johnny Walker (21-8) also will meet No. 9 Volkan Oezdemir (19-7). Middleweight Ihor Potieria (20-5) will take on undefeated Shara Magomedov (12-0) in another fight on the card.
"This card is going to be bad [expletive], from top to bottom," White said. "It's going to be historic. It's our first-ever show from the Kingdom."
UFC announced in October that it would hold a fight in Saudi Arabia on March 2. White said in January the event was delayed so that he could add fighters, who "weren't ready" at the time.
Saudi Arabia, which has increased involvement through investments by its Public Investment Fund into major sports leagues and teams, also owns a minority stake in the Professional Fighters League, a competitor of the UFC.
Endeavor Group Holdings, which currently owns UFC, returned a $400 million investment from the PIF in 2019 after the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The CIA and Western governments later concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman likely ordered the killing.
Endeavor previously publicly expressed interest in a strategic partnership with the PGA Tour amid the PIF's negotiations to merge forces with the U.S.-based golf league, but that offer was rejected.
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel said in May on Freakonomics Radio that the company also was considering a $1 billion investment into LIV Golf -- now owned and operated by the PIF -- but did not go through with that plan because of LIV Golf's previous dispute with the PGA Tour.
Endeavor's current business partnership with the PGA Tour includes commercial rights sales and tournament management.
The PGA Tour announced in January that it closed on an investment of up to $3 billion with the StrategicSports Group, a consortium of American sports team owners. That transaction, used to launch PGA Tour Enterprises, allows for co-investment from the PIF, the PGA Tour said.
