MMA veteran points out grave mistakes by Ikram Aliskerov that cost him against Robert Whittaker: "Take a look at Khabib"
Recently, an MMA veteran shared his opinions regarding Ikram Aliskerov's performance against Robert Whittaker. He drew attention to Ikram Aliskerov's serious errors that cost him the match against Whittaker.
Aliskerov stepped in on short notice as a replacement for Whittaker's original opponent, Khamzat Chimaev. The two headlined UFC Saudi Arabia, which took place on June 22 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Despite being hailed as a future star by UFC Hall of Famer and legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, the Dagestani fighter failed to make it through a complete round against the former UFC middleweight champion.
Following a strong overhand right that clipped Aliskerov, Whittaker carried on his attack, further incapacitating his opponent with a high kick. Then 'The Reaper' delivered an uppercut that knocked Aliskerov to the ground. After a few more follow-up blows, the fight was halted by referee Marc Goddard at 1:49 of Round 1.
Josh Thomson, the aforementioned veteran, brought attention to Aliskerov's mistakes at UFC Saudi Arabia during a recent episode of the Weighing in podcast. From his perspective, the underdog started the fight poorly, doing little to truly push Whittaker back and keep him guessing.
While taking the example of a couple of his former AKA teammates, Thomson said:
''As soon as I saw Ikram not like kind of walk him down, start putting pressure and moving his head side to side, go back and take a look at Khabib. Go back and take a look at Cain Velasquez when he fought Junior dos Santos. Always moving the head and walking forward so you're, and dipping the legs a little bit, making a little bounce. Making them go like, 'Okay are they going to box or are they going to wrestle? What are they going to do?'. You've got to make them think that way, especially in the beginning of the fight."
Check out Josh Thomson's comments below (1:01:02):
Ikram Aliskerov doesn't regret accepting the fight against Robert Whittaker on short notice
Ikram Aliskerov, who lost to Robert Whittaker in the first round, is maintaining a positive outlook and believes that he made the right decision in facing 'The Reaper' at short notice. Aliskerov replaced Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia.
In a backstage interview after the fight, Aliskerov stated:
''We need to try. Think about it, if I had refused, I would have thought all my life, if I had agreed to fight Whittaker, what would've happened? Who knows? Therefore, we fighters, athletes are ready for anything. But in the future, we'll take risks into account and analyze everything...We are Muslims, we see everything as the will of the Almighty. Therefore, it was meant to be this way. It all happened spontaneously, it turns out, this was destined for us."
Check out Ikram Aliskerov's comments below: