The UFC returned to Abu Dhabi on Saturday night where some big names were in action at the Etihad Arena.
Capping off the event, Reinier de Ridder defeated Robert Whittaker to earn his first win over a former UFC champion.
‘The Dutch Knight’ has quickly climbed up the middleweight division with four wins and three finishes since debuting inside the Octagon last November.
His closely contested decision win over ‘The Reaper’ didn’t earn the Dutchman any bonuses, with Shara Magomedov earning fight of the night honors for his clash with Marc-Andre Barriault.
De Ridder also didn’t rank too highly in the figures for the UFC’s promotional guidelines compliance pay-outs.
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Reinier de Ridder takes home significantly less than Robert Whittaker in UFC Abu Dhabi compliance pay
Reinier de Ridder wanted to make a statement at UFC Abu Dhabi and while he wasn’t able to do this, or earn a bonus, the win puts him into the title picture.
One ranking that ‘RDR’ doesn’t sit near the top of was the figures for the UFC’s promotional guidelines compliance numbers.
The UFC uses a scale of how many times an athlete has competed for the promotion to determine how much they are financially rewarded for fulfilling fight week obligations (outfitting requirements, media and various other practices that fall under the UFC’s fighter code of conduct).
| Number of UFC or Zuffa-era WEC & Strikeforce bouts | Payment received |
| 1-3 | $4,000 |
| 4-5 | $4,500 |
| 6-10 | $6,000 |
| 11-15 | $11,000 |
| 16-20 | $16,000 |
| 21 + | $21,000 |
| Title challenger | $32,000 |
| Champion | $42,000 |
With de Ridder only having four UFC fights under his belt, despite featuring in the main event, he was out-earned by 14 other members of the roster who were in action on July 26.
Unsurprisingly, his opponent, Robert Whittaker, who some thought deserved to win, was the highest earner in this field with the former champion having 24 UFC fights on his record.
Marc-Andre Barriault and Nikita Krylov were joint second-highest because they both qualify for the 16-20 fight tier, which earns them $16,000.
Unlike at UFC 318, where there was a title fight topping the bill, no fighter left Abu Dhabi with the maximum amount that you can earn from this policy.
| UFC Abu Dhabi fighter | Payment received |
| Reinier de Ridder | $4,500 |
| Robert Whittaker | $21,000 |
| Petr Yan | $11,000 |
| Marcus McGhee | $4,500 |
| Shara Magomedov | $6,000 |
| Marc-Andre Barriault | $16,000 |
| Asu Almabayev | $6,000 |
| Jose Ochoa | $4,000 |
| Bogdan Guskov | $4,500 |
| Nikita Krylov | $16,000 |
| Bryce Mitchell | $11,000 |
| Said Nurmagomedov | $11,000 |
| Muslim Salikhov | $11,000 |
| Carlos Leal | $4,000 |
| Davey Grant | $11,000 |
| Da’Mon Blackshear | $6,000 |
| Tabatha Ricci | $6,000 |
| Amanda Ribas | $11,000 |
| Billy Elekana | $4,000 |
| Ibo Aslan | $4,500 |
| Steven Nguyen | $4,000 |
| Mohammad Yahya | $4,000 |
| Martin Buday | $6,000 |
| Marcus Almeida | $4,000 |
Four fighters earned bonuses at UFC Abu Dhabi
Alongside the fighter guidelines compliance pay, some competitors earned another additional financial reward via post-fight bonuses.
As stated, fight of the night went to Shara Magomedov versus Marc-Andre Barriault on the main card as ‘Bullet’ battled back from a broken nose to earn the decision win.
Two finishes on the prelims received performance bonuses, with one fighter scoring a huge upset knockout while the other broke the UFC record for most knockdowns in one fight.
- Shara Magomedov def. Marc-Andre Barriault via unanimous decision – fight of the night
- Muslim Salikhov def. Carlos Leal via KO – performance of the night
- Steven Nguyen def. Mohammad Yahya via KO (doctor stoppage) – performance of the night