The Hit List: Can’t-Miss Fights of July

Reinier de Ridder has thus far exceeded expectations.

Pigeonholed as a high-floor, low-ceiling brute upon his arrival in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the 34-year-old Dutchman appears to be closing in on title contention in the middleweight division as he approaches his UFC on ABC 9 main event opposite Robert Whittaker on July 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. De Ridder has rattled off four consecutive victories, three of them inside the Octagon. The former two-division ONE Championship titleholder last appeared on May 3, when he put away the previously unbeaten Bo Nickal with a volley of knee strikes in the second round of their UFC on ESPN 67 encounter. Whittaker, meanwhile, has spent well over a decade on the UFC roster, reaching the pinnacle during his reign as undisputed middleweight champion from Dec. 7, 2017 to Oct. 6, 2019. “The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes” winner last saw action at UFC 308, where he tapped to face crank from Khamzat Chimaev in the first round of their Oct. 26, 2024 pairing.

The Whittaker-de Ridder showdown is but one must-see fight in July. Here are six more:

Mohammad Alaqraa vs. Omar Hussein
2025 PFL MENA 2
July 4 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Alaqraa fell just short of the mark in his first season with the fledgling Middle East and North Africa branch of the Professional Fighters League. The 2024 tournament runner-up looks to get back on track when his welterweight quarterfinal opposite Hussein draws co-headlining duty at The Green Halls. Alaqraa, a 25-year-old American Kickboxing Academy rep, suffered his first career setback in his most recent outing—a technical knockout loss to Omar El Dafrawy in a failed bid to capture PFL MENA tournament championship in November. On the other side of the equation, Team Alpha Male’s Hussein returns to the PFL for the first time since 2022 and does so on the strength of back-to-back victories over Ali Hussein Nidal and Seth Rosario.

Patrick Habirora vs. Danny Roberts
2025 PFL Europe 2
July 5 | Brussels, Belgium
Habirora may soon get to show just how high he can fly. The undefeated 24-year-old Belgian prospect sets his sights on a battle-tested UFC veteran when he locks horns with Roberts in a main event assignment at ING Arena. Habirora has stopped five of his six opponents by knockout or technical knockout, four of them inside one round. He made his promotional debut at the 2024 PFL Europe Finals, where he punched out Catalin Safta in the third round of their Dec. 14 clash. Roberts, meanwhile, compiled a 7-7 record across his 14 appearances in the UFC, though his tenure with the promotion concluded with a three-fight losing streak. He has not competed since he succumbed to second-round punches from Jonny Parsons at UFC Fight Night 224 nearly two years ago.

Derrick Lewis vs. Tallison Teixeira
UFC on ESPN 70
July 12 | Nashville, Tennessee
Teixeira has all the characteristics companies look for in young heavyweights, from the undefeated record and 100% finish rate to enormous physical size at 6-foot-8, 260 pounds. The 25-year-old Brazilian gets an opportunity to climb several rungs on the ladder when he faces Lewis in a five-round main event at Bridgestone Arena. Teixeira has stopped all eight of his opponents inside one round, three of them in less than a minute. He improved to 8-0 at UFC 312, where he needed just 35 seconds to dispatch Justin Tafa with a knee to the body and a follow-up elbow strike on Feb. 8. On the other side of the ledger, Lewis has been appointment viewing ever since he linked arms with the UFC more than a decade ago. Now 40, “The Black Beast” has lost five of his past eight bouts but finds himself on the upswing after a third-round technical knockout of Rodrigo Nascimento at UFC on ESPN 56 in May 2024.

Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier
UFC 318
July 19 | New Orleans
It seems appropriate that Poirier pens the final chapter of his outstanding career against one of his longtime rivals. “The Diamond” completes his trilogy with Holloway—he already holds a 2-0 advantage against the Hawaiian—when they square off for the symbolic BMF title at the Smoothie King Center, not far from where the Lafayette, Louisiana, native grew up. Poirier, 36, enters the cage having alternated wins and losses in each of his past five outings. He last saw action at UFC 302, where he tapped to a fifth-round brabo choke from Islam Makhachev in a failed bid to capture the undisputed lightweight crown in June 2024. Holloway, meanwhile, has won three of his last four fights. He has not strapped on the gloves since being knocked out by then-featherweight champion Ilia Topuria at UFC 308 on Oct. 26. Poirier and Holloway are tied for fifth on the UFC’s all-time wins list with 22.

Dakota Ditcheva vs. Sumiko Inaba
PFL Champions Series 2
July 19 | Cape Town, South Africa
No homegrown star shines brighter in the PFL than Ditcheva. The undefeated American Top Team export answers the call to arms for the first time since she won the million-dollar 2024 PFL women’s flyweight championship when she puts Inaba to the test in a co-feature at GrandWest Arena. Ditcheva carries a 14-0 record with 13 finishes, highlighted by her second-round stoppage of Taila Santos in their tournament final on Nov. 29. On the other side of the docket, Inaba steps back into view on the heels of back-to-back victories over Saray Orozco and Mackenzie Stiller. The 34-year-old Hawaiian has never been finished in nine appearances as a pro, a unanimous decision defeat to Denise Kielhotz under the Bellator MMA banner in November 2023 her only misstep.

Movsar Evloev vs. Aaron Pico
UFC on ABC 9
July 26 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Evloev looks to take another step toward a title shot in the cutthroat featherweight division, albeit in what some view as a high-risk, low-reward assignment. The 31-year-old Russian improved to 19-0 in December, when he laid claim to a three-round unanimous decision over former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 310. Evloev has now gone the distance in each of his nine UFC bouts, fueling critics who have branded him with the “boring” label. Pico, meanwhile, marches into his Octagon debut with the wind of a three-fight winning streak in his sails. Still just 28 years of age, he has experienced the highs and lows often associated with being a can’t-miss prospect in such a volatile and unpredictable sport. Pico last stepped into the cage in February 2024, when he buried Henry Corrales with punches in the first round of their PFL Super Fights “PFL vs. Bellator Champs” pairing.