Bruno Machado will now face Yun Jae Jung at UAE Warriors 36

UAE Warriors Champ vs. Double G Champ
Bruno Machado will now face Yun Jae Jung
at UAE Warriors 36

Yas Island, Abu Dhabi: UAE Warriors returns next week with another mega-weekend of international MMA action. Live from the Etihad Arena on UFC Fight Pass, we will see a true celebration of global MMA with three events back-to-back over three nights featuring athletes from across the world.

UAE Warriors 35: Africa – Friday, February 24
UAE Warriors 36 – Saturday, February 25
UAE Warriors 37: Arabia – Sunday, February 26

Taking centre stage, we will see the return of champion Bruno Machado (15-9) – pictured below – who will now defend his UAE Warriors lightweight title against South Korean Double G champion Yun Jae Jung (8-2-1) in the main event of ‘UAE Warriors 36’ on Saturday, February 25.

Machado was originally scheduled to face Martun Mezhlumyan, however, the electric Armenian was forced to withdraw due to illness.

The Brazilian, who was last seen in action in a high-profile boxing bout with the legendary Anderson Silva, is on an impressive six-fight win-streak in MMA and will have top be on top form as he welcomes the challenge of Jung, one of the top prospects from South Korea.

Former PFL $1 million tournament winner Emiliano Sordi (23-11-1) will meet Kazakhstan’s Asylzhan Bakhytzhanuly (13-4-1) in the cards’ co-main event. The popular Argentinian will aim to get back to winning ways and impress in his UAE Warriors debut while Bakhytzhanuly has the opportunity to score the biggest win of his career.

Elsewhere on the card, UAE Warriors Arabia champion Xavier Alaoui (13-4) faces the Philippines’ Jayson Margallo (11-5) in a non-title bout, two undefeated rising stars of women’s MMA will clash as Sweden’s Josefine Knutsson (4-0) meets Australia’s Jacinta Austin (4-0), and Argentina’s Mauro Mastromarini (14-1) goes up against Kazakhstan’s Bekzat Almakhan (14-1) in one of the best bantamweight bouts you will see outside of the UFC this year.

Also on the card, Egypt’s Ahmed Faress (18-7) goes up against South Africa’s Cedric Doyle (10-5) and the undefeated Yabna Ferreira (9-0) of Guinea Bissau takes on Algeria’s Yazid Chouchane (8-3).

The African series was successfully launched in early 2022 with the goal of providing a platform for fighters of African heritage to compete on a global stage. This coming edition will see over a dozen African nations represented.

A true pioneer of the regional MMA scene, Yahya has been competing for over a decade now and over the past two years has hit his peak form in compiling a 4-fight win streak, including a KO win to capture the UAE Warriors Arabia title. He will need to be in prime condition against Tahiri as the Algerian has demonstrated an unpredictable style coupled with a slick submission game across his 3 promotional bouts.

Supporting this, in the co-main event, Jordan’s Nawras Abzakh (10-4), amongst the most technically sound fighters in the region, will look to defend the UAE Warriors Arabia flyweight title for the first time as he faces highly touted Lebanese prospect Jonny Touma (5-1) in what could be the most action-packed fight of the entire three-day weekend.