Following last year’s success, the UFC is heading back to Qatar. The promotion will return to the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena on November 21 for UFC Fight Night 294, with 18 fighters currently scheduled to compete across nine bouts.

The event will feature the return of former champions Jiri Prochazka and Aljamain Sterling, while several other established names will be looking to make a statement in the promotion’s second visit to the country.

All fights announced so far for the UFC’s Fight Night event in Qatar are as follows:

Main Card

• Light Heavyweight: Jiri Prochazka vs. Navajo Stirling (main event)
• Featherweight: Aljamain Sterling vs. Kevin Vallejos (co-main) 
• Lightweight: Dan Hooker vs. Brian Ortega 
• Middleweight: Jared Cannonier vs. Ikram Aliskerov 
• Flyweight: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Asu Almabayev  

Prelims  

• Bantamweight: Aleksandre Topuria vs. Santiago Luna    
• Flyweight: Amir Albazi vs. Alessandro Costa 
• Heavyweight: Shamil Gaziev vs. Tallison Teixeira 
• Welterweight: Jake Matthews vs. Akbar Abdullaev

Typically, a UFC Fight Night event features 10 or more fights, but the promotion’s second visit to Qatar currently has only nine bouts confirmed. That leaves room for a couple more fights to be added before fight night.

The UFC, in fact, had planned a 10th fight before it fell apart.

Islam Makhachev’s teammate, Magomed ‘Chanko’ Zaynukov, more popularly known as ‘John Pork,’ was scheduled to face Manoel Sousa, but Zaynukov revealed that he had to undergo surgery, forcing him out of the event. The UFC also did not offer him a new contract for the matchup, leaving Sousa without an opponent for now.

Regardless, the UFC’s return to Qatar stands out anyway, given the magnitude of stakes tied to its main card bouts.

Former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka will make his first Octagon appearance since his controversial loss to Carlos Ulberg at UFC 327 in April. Prochazka was hoping to reclaim the 205-pound title, but Ulberg suffered an ACL tear during the opening minutes of the fight, prompting the former champion to supposedly take it easy on the Kiwi. But the choice ultimately led to Ulberg knocking out the Czech MMA star with a left hook in the first round to become the new champion at light heavyweight.

Prochazka later said he felt “bad” for Ulberg because of the injury and didn’t want to press the action. However, that explanation drew criticism from some fans, who pointed to Prochazka walking into the finishing sequence with his chin exposed.

Now, ‘BJP’ gets an opportunity to move past the setback and once again claw back to the top. But his next opponent, coincidentally also a Kiwi, is a dangerous unbeaten prospect with plenty of momentum.

Navajo Stirling is riding a six-fight UFC winning streak and remains unbeaten at 11-0. The City Kickboxing product recently scored the biggest win of his career by stopping former champion Jan Blachowicz in the first round at UFC Belgrade.

Notably, Stirling trains at the same gym as Ulberg. That makes the matchup even more intriguing, particularly if the 24-year-old can continue climbing the rankings and eventually find himself in position to challenge his teammate for the title.

Down the card, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will meet rising talent Kevin Vallejos in the co-main event.

Sterling moved up to featherweight and recently secured a new UFC contract after defeating Youssef Zalal. This will be his first fight under that deal. Following his victory over Zalal, ‘Funk Master’ also called for a matchup with the reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Vallejos, however, has his own momentum. The Argentine prospect scored an impressive first-round knockout over veteran Josh Emmett in March and will now face one of the most accomplished fighters in the division.

With Volkanovski scheduled to defend his featherweight title against Movsar Evloev at UFC 333, a strong performance from either Sterling or Vallejos could put the winner in the conversation for a future title opportunity.

Then there is Dan Hooker.

The Hangman’s inclusion on the card may have surprised some fans, considering he suffered a brutal knockout loss to UFC debutant and rising MMA star Salahdine Parnasse in Paris on September 5. Yet the New Zealander appears ready for a remarkably quick turnaround, returning just over two months after the defeat.

Standing opposite him will be former featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega, who also has plenty to prove with this fight.

Ortega’s move to lightweight has not gone according to plan so far. After losing to Sterling last year, his scheduled rematch with Renato Moicano fell apart twice because of cancellations. The UFC has now moved on from that pairing and matched Ortega with Hooker instead.

For Ortega, simply making it to the Octagon in Qatar will be an important first step after the recent run of setbacks.

The prelims also offer some stellar clashes fans wouldn’t want to miss.

UFC Qatar prelims also feature high-stakes bouts

The promotion really went all out with its matchmaking for the Qatar Fight Night card, because former champ Ilia Topuria’s brother is returning after a year. Aleksandre Topuria will be coming back to face Santiago Luna in the featured prelims of the card. Last time out, Topuria beat Bekzat Almakhan via decision at the inaugural event in Qatar.

So far, ‘El Conquistador’ has won 2 UFC fights and will be looking for a hat trick in November. However, Santiago Luna represents a step up in competition. The Mexican dropped his last fight against Bryce Mitchell back in June. Even so, his outings against Quang Le and Angel Pichaco have been pretty impressive. 

Then comes the night’s only announced heavyweight bout. Shamil Gaziev delivered a devastating knockout over Kennedy Nzechukwu in August, and he’ll be returning to face Tallison Teixeira in Qatar. The circumstances are somewhat different for the Brazilian, who will be stepping back into the cage after Sergei Pavlovich knocked him out in his last fight.

Last but not least, Amir Albazi and Alessandro Costa will collide in the prelims to stay in the hunt for a title shot. Albazi was once tipped as a future 125 lbs champion, but his two losses to Brandon Moreno and Kyoji Horiguchi badly derailed his momentum.

The Brazilian, on the other hand, is on a three-fight winning streak, and a fourth win over Albazi would certainly set him up for showdowns against bigger names in a division that’s currently red-hot.

That said, the matchmaking is looking solid for the UFC Qatar. Now, it remains to be seen whether the fights end up delivering once again, as they have so far in 2026.