Robert Whittaker was on top in his bout against Ikram Aliskerov at UFC Fight Night on June 22 live from Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The former middleweight champion of Australia defeated his opponent by knockout with big punches. He also threw a head kick that, however, didn’t fully reach the target.
After delivering a right uppercut dropping Aliskerov to the canvas, Whittaker followed it up with three more punches. Referee Marc Goddard stepped in and waved the fight off at 1 minute and 49 seconds into the first round.
With the victory, Robert Whittaker improved to 26-7. The New Zealand-Australian mixed martial artist secured his second win in a row. In his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier, the 33-year-old said he was willing to make his appearance at UFC 305 in Perth.
“I told you, I told everybody, I’m the boogeyman,” Whittaker told Daniel Cormier. “I’m the best in the world and I’m the most dangerous match up for anyone in the division.”
“[I took this fight] because I’m the best in the world, mate. I’m the most dangerous middleweight in the world. I’ll take a fight anywhere, anytime and I’ll proved this tonight. I’ll prove it again and I’ll fight anyone.”
“I told everybody in the leadup to this fight, I’m going to lean on my experience and that’s exactly what it was. It was experience. I’ve been in this position 100 times, I understand what I’m doing. I told you, I’m going to be the hunter and that’s exactly what I did.”
“I’m healthy, I’m hearty, let’s go,” Whittaker said when asked whether he would be interested in becoming a backup fighter for the UFC 305 main event pitting current middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis (21-2) against former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya (24-3).
Ikram Aliskerov dropped to 15-2 and got his seven-fight winning streak snapped. The 31-year-old was scheduled to fight Andre Muniz and then Antonio Trocoli a week earlier, in the co-main event at UFC Vegas 93. He was pulled to face Whittaker after Khamzat Chimaev was forced to withdraw due to illness.
Get UFC Saudi Arabia: Whittaker vs Aliskerov full card results.