KB Bhullar is back in the UAE Warriors cage.
Per sources, Edmonton, Alta.’s Bhullar (11-3) will take on Brazil’s Juscelino Ferreira (11-3) in a middleweight bout at UAE Warriors 30 on July 2 in Abu Dhabi. The event will be broadcasted live on UFC Fight Pass.
This will be Bhullar’s second appearance under the UAE Warriors banner after losing his debut fight to Tarek Suleiman due to an illegal knee.
Since his short 0-2 run in the UFC that saw him lose to Tom Breese and Andreas Michailidis, Bhullar has notched three wins in under seven months.
UAE Warriors has quietly become one of the more reliable landing spots for Canadian fighters between UFC stints — the promotion's willingness to book ranked-level matchups on the international stage means a fighter like Bhullar can rebuild his record and his confidence without dropping back down to the Canadian regional level. Three wins since the 0-2 UFC run is exactly the kind of bounce-back a fighter in his position needs.
Bhullar’s foe, Ferreira, will be making his fourth start in the UAE Warriors cage, currently holding a 2-1 record in the promotion. His two wins have come over Suleiman and Ibrahim Elsawi.
In other previously-announced action on the card, Calgary, Alta.’s Jesse Arnett will challenge Jordan’s Ali AlQaisi for his UAE Warriors featherweight title in the main event of the evening.
Arnett is coming off a massive win in his last outing, taking out the previously-undefeated Gadzhimurad Gasanguseynov at UAE Warriors 28.
On the AlQaisi side, the UFC veteran has gone 4-0 since his UFC departure, which includes winning and defending the UAE Warriors featherweight title.
Top Brazilian prospect Vinicius de Oliviera will also defend his UAE Warriors bantamweight title on the card against undefeated Ali Taleb.
For Canadian MMA, cards like UAE Warriors 30 are part of a bigger shift — the country's best regional fighters are no longer limited to climbing back through domestic shows when a UFC stint ends. Promotions in the Middle East have become a legitimate second track, and Bhullar and Arnett both fighting on the same card is a sign of how established that pipeline has become.
The Arnett-AlQaisi title fight being on the same card gives it an extra layer of significance for Canadian fans — two Edmonton fighters sharing a UAE Warriors lineup is the kind of thing that raises both men's profiles at once, and if both come away with wins it makes a legitimate case for the promotion to look at Canada as a real talent pipeline for future shows.
