PFL Dubai fight week is upon us. While the attention of the sports world at-large has been and will continue to be on Santa Clara, CA for Super Bowl LX as the final days until Sunday’s football game tick away, the attention of the MMA world is focused squarely on two locales.

A packed Saturday of MMA action begins in the morning (US time) in the United Arab Emirates for PFL Dubai, the opening card of the 2026 PFL schedule of events. Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai serves as the setting for the event this coming weekend.

Live coverage of PFL Dubai kicks off at 9 am ET/ 6 am PT with the early card. Late card action follows at 12 noon ET/ 9 am PT. Inside the United States of America, the show will be seen gavel-to-gavel on ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service. All told, if there are no adjustments made to the weekend’s itinerary, 13 fights are planned for Saturday.

PFL Dubai Main Event: PFL Lightweight Championship: [C] Usman Nurmagomedov vs. No. 2 Contender Alfie Davis

At the top of the bill on Saturday in Dubai, the PFL Lightweight Championship is at stake in the evening’s main event. Current champion and No. 1 pound-for-pound contender Usman Nurmagomedov (20-0, 1 NC MMA, 2-0 PFL,) the cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, will meet up with challenger and No. 2 contender Alfie Davis (20-5-1 MMA, 3-1 PFL.)

This is the first of two championship fights on PFL Dubai this Saturday. Both such fights will be an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round.

Usman Nurmagomedov will be making the walk to the SmartCage on Saturday night in Dubai having yet to lose thus far in his professional MMA career. Last time out, he retained his championship with a unanimous decision victory over Paul Hughes (14-3 MMA, 2-2 PFL) in a rematch last October.

He’s unblemished in his MMA life up to now, save for a 2023 fight in San Diego vs. Brent Primus being retroactively reversed to a no-contest amid a positive drug test. Will he defend the Nurmagomedov family honor once again?

Meanwhile, Alfie Davis comes into PFL Dubai this weekend sporting a 4-1 record in his last five treks to the SmartCage. He swept his way through the 2025 PFL Lightweight World Tournament en route to a unanimous decision victory over Gadzhi Rabadanov (26-5-2 MMA, 7-1 PFL.)

A key plotline which could come into play here on Saturday is the age difference between champion and challenger. Nurmagomedov is 27 years old and won’t turn 28 for another two months, while Davis is 33 years of age, nearly seven years the champion’s elder. He’ll celebrate his 34th birthday later this month. Will the teacher best the student this weekend?

PFL Dubai Co-Main Event: PFL Vacant Welterweight Championship: No. 1 Contender Shamil Musaev vs. No. 2 Contender Ramazan Kuramagomedov

Immediately beforehand, the co-main event of the evening at PFL Dubai sees action in the welterweight ranks. A new titleholder will be determined when No. 1 contender Shamil Musaev (20-0-1 MMA, 4-0 PFL) faces No. 2 contender Ramazan Kuramagomedov (13-0 MMA, PFL promotional debut) in the first fight for both undefeated contestants since 2024.

Musaev heads into this vacant welterweight championship contest on Saturday night after having had a hiatus of over 14 months. On Nov. 29, 2024, against the backdrop of Black Friday, he scored a third-round knockout over Magomed Umalatov (18-1 MMA, 9-1 PFL) to capture the 2024 PFL Welterweight Championship.

He’s unbeaten up to now, but the gap of over a year could be his undoing here. How will he fare this weekend?

Across the way, Ramazan Kuramagomedov is coming off of a hiatus of more than 19 months. Back on June 22, 2024, he bested Jason Jackson (19-6 MMA, 2-1 PFL) by way of unanimous decision after 15 minutes of action in Bellator Champions Series 3 in Dublin, Ireland.

He hasn’t been called into action in more than a year and a half. Will he score a championship victory?

PFL Dubai: No. 5 Contender Abdoul Abdouraguimov vs. Kendly St. Louis

More welterweight action will precede the title fight on the PFL Dubai late card this Saturday when No. 5 contender Abdoul Abdouraguimov (19-1, 1 NC MMA, 3-0 PFL) fights Kendly St-Louis (11-5 MMA, 3-1 PFL,) an alumnus of Cage Fury Fighting Championships. Abdouraguimov sports a record of 5-0 in his last five fights and is currently on a nine-fight winning streak dating back to August of 2020.

Cancellations have precluded him from fighting of late. The last two scheduled fights for Abdouraguimov were postponed without a single punch being thrown, including his originally-scheduled fight for this weekend versus Magomed Umalatov. To find the last time he fought, you’d need to go back to December of 2024.

That night, he secured a unanimous decision win against Laureano Staropoli (18-1 MMA, 9-1 PFL.) A planned Sept. 26 fight between Abdouraguimov and Kevin Jousset was also canceled.

Abdouraguimov enters this fight at No. 5 in the featherweight rankings. A win here could mean he’s as little as one fight away from fighting for a championship in the future.

In the other corner, Kendly St-Louis enters Saturday’s card with a 4-1 record in his last five fights and looks to return to the win column this weekend after losing by first-round knockout due to ground and pound shots to Chris Mixan (7-1 MMA, 3-0 PFL) on Aug. 15 in Charlotte, NC.

A fighter is vulnerable when he’s coming off of a loss. How will he respond to the setback? Only time will tell.

Rest of the Card

The PFL Dubai late card is rounded out by a featherweight contest between No. 3 contender Jesus Pinedo (25-7-1 MMA, 5-2 PFL) and Salamat Isbulaev (9-0, PFL promotional debut) and a heavyweight fight pairing No. 8 contender Pouya Rahmani (5-0 MMA, 1-0 PFL) with No. 10 contender Karl Williams (10-4 MMA, 1-2 PFL.)

Which fight or fights are you looking forward to on PFL Dubai? Let us know in the comments.

 

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