The premier promotion will return to the Land Down Under in February 2027, with the main event officially announced.

This past Tuesday, the UFC announced their return to Sydney, Australia, will take place on February 6 from the Afterpay Arena.

In the main event, lightweight contenders Quillan Salkilld and Benoit Saint-Denis will clash, with the hometown fighter hoping to continue his impressive win streak and put himself firmly into title contention.

And someone else who will be hoping for a fight on the card, Robert Whittaker, has reacted to the main event clash.

Is Quillan Salkilld the most promising up-and-comer in the promotion?

Robert Whittaker says ‘it’s gonna be terrible’ for Saint-Denis

The 26-year-old Australian, Salkilld, is on an absolute tear in the 155lb division. Since earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, he is on a six-fight win streak, with his last being an extremely impressive submission win over Mateusz Gamrot.

And with him ranked number six in the META featherweight rankings, he has chance to potentially earn himself a title shot with a win, with Justin Gaethje likely having retired by the time Salkilld fights again. Reacting to the UFC Sydney main event, former middleweight champion, Whittaker, has predicted that it will be a long night for ‘BSD’.

“How good to have Quillan headlining to build up the Aussies that are just tearing through ranks, honestly, Aussie fighters are killing it, we’re destroying it,” Whittaker said on the MMArcade Podcast. “Tom Nolan is headlining this weekend, dude, we’re taking over the world and for good reason, we’re so good. It is great to see, I’m pumped to be a part of that and yeah, I can’t wait. Heads up, early prediction, (Salkilld) is gonna beat the breaks off BSD, bad. It’s gonna be bad, it’s gonna be terrible for BSD,” he continued.

Four Road to the UFC fights will also take place on the event, however, no other fights have been announced yet for the event in Sydney. Despite that, ‘The Reaper’ has stated that he is preparing to make his return on the card, in what could potentially be his final fight.

“I’m excited to get back into training, I am preparing for February so I’m gonna start locking in,” Whittaker said. The 35-year-old hasn’t fought since this past July when he made his light heavyweight debut with a win over Nikita Krylov. Whittaker may be hopeful of picking up another big win over a high ranked contender to potentially put himself in title contention, however, he admitted earlier this year that he won’t be sticking around for too long, and any fight could be his last.