How the First UFC Night in Qatar Played Out

On November 21 the UFC comes back to Doha for a second time. The first visit was a year ago, on November 22, 2025, when a Fight Night card at ABHA Arena made Qatar the third country in the Middle East to host the promotion, after the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Fight week ran across the city: open workouts at Old Doha Port, a UFC gaming zone at Place Vendôme Mall, the ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday.

The main event did not need the judges. Arman Tsarukyan locked an arm-triangle choke on Dan Hooker and got the tap at 3:34 of the second round, his fifth straight win at the time. In the co-main event Ian Machado Garry went the full three rounds with Belal Muhammad and took a unanimous decision.

Most of the night ended early. Volkan Oezdemir knocked out Alonzo Menifield at 1:27 of the first round, Myktybek Orolbai stopped Jack Hermansson at 2:46, and Waldo Cortes-Acosta put away Shamil Gaziev at 1:22. At flyweight, Kyoji Horiguchi took Tagir Ulanbekov's back and finished him in the third. Four fighters left with Performance of the Night bonuses: Tsarukyan, Cortes-Acosta, Horiguchi and Luke Riley.

Five men from that card are on the November 21 bill — Hooker, Horiguchi, Almabayev, Gaziev and Aleksandre Topuria — and the two who each won by third-round submission that night, Horiguchi and Almabayev, now meet each other. Who faces whom this time is on the event page: UFC Fight Night Doha tickets.