A rematch between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira will headline the UFC’s return to Abu Dhabi in October, with Khamzat Chimaev also confirmed on Thursday for the much-anticipated card.
In a video on social media, UFC president Dana White announced three bouts for UFC 294 at Etihad Arena on October 21, with Makhachev’s lightweight title defence against former champion Oliveira at the top of the bill.
Chimaev, one of the promotion’s marquee names, will take on Paulo Costa at middleweight, marking his return to the octagon for the first time in more than a year, while Nassourdine Imavov faces Ikram Aliskerov in another 185lb clash.
Makhachev’s defence against Oliveira mirrors the headline fight at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi last October, when the Dagestan native defeated his Brazilian opponent by second-round submission to capture the lightweight belt for the first time. It represented Oliveira’s first defeat in 12 fights.
Makhachev, currently 24-1 as a professional, then successfully defended his belt against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 in Perth in February, lifting his win streak to 12.
Oliveira, meanwhile, bounced back last month from his loss to Makhachev, earning an emphatic first-round victory against Beneil Dariush at UFC 289. The former belt-holder’s record now reads 34-9, with 1 no contest.
In Chimaev-Costa, the UFC confirmed a match-up long in the making. Chimaev, who debuted in the promotion at the inaugural Fight Island in Abu Dhabi in July 2020, is unbeaten in all 12 pro bouts, but has been sidelined since his first-round victory against Kevin Holland last September.
The Chechen-born Swede is 6-0 in the UFC, with three of those wins taking place the Emirates.
Costa, 14-2, last competed in the promotion last August, when he saw off Luke Rockhold in a thrilling encounter at UFC 278. The Brazilian, who was supposed to go up against Aliskerov at next week’s UFC 291, also fought in Abu Dhabi during the pandemic. However, he lost to champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 253 in September 2020.
In Thursday's video, White said: “I’m here to announce that the card everyone has been waiting for, we got it done. Abu Dhabi, UFC 294 on Saturday October 21, the main event: Islam Makhachev will defend his lightweight title in the rematch against Charles Oliveira.
"Makhachev has won 12 in a row and the former champ Charles Oliveira has won 12 of his last 13, including finishes over Justin Gaejthe, Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler – and his one loss in those 13 fights is to Islam.
"After that loss he bounced back with a first-round TKO of Beneil Dariush, extending his UFC record for most finishes to 20.
“Also on the card, the guy everyone’s been waiting to hear about: Khamzat Chimaev returns, and he will be facing Paulo Costa. Chimaev is 12-0 – 11 finishes – and he’s coming off a dominant first-round submission of Kevin Holland.
“Costa has an 86 per cent finish rate, and let me just say this: he and Chimaev do not like each other. This should be one hell of a fight.”
In the card’s other announced bout, Imavov (12-4, 1 no contest) will look to put a difficult 2023 thus far behind him. In January, the Frenchman lost to Sean Strickland before fighting a no-contest last month against Chris Curtis because of an accidental clash of heads.
In Aliskerov, he enters the Etihad Arena octagon against a promising Russian with only one defeat in 15 pro bouts. Debuting in the UFC only in May, Aliskerov delivered on his billing by registering a first-round knockout of Phil Hawes.
Tickets for UFC 294 go on sale on Thursday.
Play-off fixtures
Two-legged ties to be played November 9-11 and November 12-14
- Northern Ireland v Switzerland
- Croatia v Greece
- Denmark v Ireland
- Sweden v Italy
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
September 30
South Africa v Australia
Argentina v New Zealand
October 7
South Africa v New Zealand
Argentina v Australia
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
Results
5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: Panadol, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
6.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m, Winner: Mayehaab, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
6.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh85,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Monoski, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
7.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Eastern World, Royston Ffrench, Charlie Appleby
7.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Madkal, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
8.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Taneen, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
