Robert Whittaker Lands Savage Uppercut To Stop Ikram Aliskerov At UFC Saudi
Robert Whittaker made light work of Ikram Aliskerov, stopping him in the first round at UFC Saudi Arabia.
Whittaker had a tough task coming into the fight, given Aliskerov was a late replacement. Khamzat Chimaev was the original opponent, but he withdrew after a health issue resulted in his hospitalisation. Before the fight, Ikram was undefeated in the UFC. He had three straight first-round stoppage wins. Meanwhile, Whittaker had bounced back from his loss to Dricus Du Plessis with a win, beating Paulo Costa. Whittaker did not need much time to get Aliskerov out of there.
Whittaker was landing numerous combinations to hurt Aliskerov in the first round. Sensing that his opponent was on the back foot, Whittaker connected with an uppercut that sent Aliskerov to the canvas. A flurry followed, as the fight was stopped at 1:49. After the fight, Whittaker stated he was ready to be a backup fighter for the UFC 305 card between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya on August 17. The fight also earned Whittaker a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, making him have the second-most bonuses at middleweight division behind Anderson Silva.
Post-Fight
“I’m healthy, I’m hearty, let’s go. I told everybody, I’m the boogeyman, I’m the best in the world and I’m the most dangerous matchup for anyone in the division. I’m the most dangerous middleweight in the world. I’ll take a fight anywhere, anytime, and I proved it tonight and I proved it again. I’ll fight anyone. I told everybody in the lead-up to this fight, I’m going to lean on my experience and that’s exactly what it was. I’ve been in this position a hundred times. I understand what I’m doing. I’m going to be the hunter and that’s exactly what I did,” Whittaker
“I’m not kidding you, nobody in the top 15 wanted to fight (Aliskerov). This guy would’ve been the co-main event last weekend. He had a full camp. He came in. Khamzat (Chimaev) calls this guy one of the toughest fights he’s ever had and Whittaker made it look easy tonight. He looked like a stud. … We’d love to have him (as a UFC 305 backup),” Dana White
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Full Results
Main Event: Robert Whittaker knocks out Ikram Aliskerov at 1:49 of the first round.
Co-Main Event: Alexander Volkov beats Sergei Pavlovich by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
Kelvin Gastelum wins against Daniel Rodriguez by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).
Shara Magomedov knocks out Antonio Trocoli with strikes at 2:27 of the third round.
Volkan Oezdemir knocks out Johnny Walker at 2:28 of the first round.
Nasrat Haqparast beats Jared Gordon by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).
Felipe Lima submits Muhammad Naimov with a rear-naked choke at 1:15 of the third round.
Rinat Fakhretdinov beats Nicolas Dalby by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).
Muin Gafurov wins against Kyung Ho Kang by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Magomed Gadzhiyasuov wins against Brendson Ribeiro by majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28).
ChangHo Lee beats Xiao Long by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).
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