UFC Saudi Arabia: Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov: Full results
UFC Saudi Arabia is in the books. The milestone event marked UFC's first-ever visit to the Middle-Eastern country and had many eyeballs on it. The event took place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, on June 22 and featured several local favorite fighters from the Middle East and Caucasian region.
Despite being marred by last-minute bout cancellations and opponent changes, the card successfully delivered good performances and entertaining fights. So let's recap the UFC Saudi Arabia event and explore the full results.
In the main event, former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker fought Dagestan's Ikram Aliskerov in a short-notice fight. Whittaker's original opponent, Khamzat Chimaev, was forced to pull out of the fight due to a serious health issue less than two weeks before.
Whittaker put his title aspirations and No.3 spot in the rankings on the line against the unranked and relatively unknown but highly skilled Aliskerov in the high-risk, low-reward matchup.
Despite the perceived skill parity, Aliskerov had little to offer the former champion on the feet. After the initial feeling-out process, Whittaker rocked Aliskerov with an overhand right and moved in for the kill as the Dagestani fighter struggled to regain composure.
After a few follow-up strikes and a head-kick attempt against the cage, 'The Reaper' knocked Aliskerov down with an uppercut and walked away with a first-round knockout.
Alexander Volkov outpoints Sergei Pavlovich in the UFC Saudi Arabia co-main event
In the co-headlining bout, elite heavyweight contenders and former teammates, Alexander Volkov and Sergei Pavlovich, fought to further their quest for the undisputed title shot.
Heading into the event, both men displayed respect and a sense of camaraderie towards each other. However, there was no holding back in the octagon as they stayed committed to the goal.
Both men started on a cautious note, trying to figure each other out. Volkov, who has admitted to being scared of Pavlovich’s power in training, tried to keep him away with kicks to the body and legs.
The defensively mindful 'Drago' coupled the kicks with an effective jab that showed visibly damaged Pavlovich's nose. The combined effect of kicks and jabs appeared to be having an impact on Pavlovich as Volkov started moving forward towards the end of Round 1.
Pavlovich, who had never gone past the first round in his UFC career, continued to struggle with the range in Round 2 as Volkov smartly evaded and blocked the single-strike bursts.
Pavlovich had the most success in Round 3 when both fighters opened up and engaged in heated exchanges. However, ‘Drago’ practiced restrain and resumed the technical striking battle en route to a unanimous decision win. The victory extended Volkov's win streak to four, the longest among the top-five heavyweights at the moment.
UFC Saudi Arabia: Volkan Oezdemir and Sharaputdin Magomedov shine on the undercard
Kelvin Gastelum's struggles with the weighing scale continued to haunt him in Riyadh. Originally scheduled for welterweight, his main card fight against Daniel Rodriguez occurred at middleweight as Gastelum could not cut the required weight.
It appeared that the impact of weight change negatively affected Rodriguez's chances as Gastelum seemed to be the bigger fighter in the cage. Gastelum assumed the role of the aggressor right from the opening bell while 'D-Rod' tried to keep him at the end of the jab.
But the momentum steadily shifted in Gastelum's favor as Rodriguez's power could not stop his advance. Gastelum secured a few takedowns and inflicted damage from the top position in the third round to take home a unanimous decision win.
One of the most popular relative newcomers, Dagestan's Sharaputdin Mogomedov made his second appearance in the UFC against Antonio Trocoli in another short-notice fight at the event.
Magomedov tried implementing his usual kick-heavy fighting style, while Trocoli tried to take advantage of the Dagestani fighter's vulnerable takedown defense. Despite a competitive start, Trocoli could not keep up with the pace and was visibly exhausted by the beginning of the third round. Boldened by the lack of meaningful resistance from Trocoli, 'Shara Bullets' poured on to get a TKO victory.
The main card opening bout saw the towering Johnny Walker face former light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. Both men had enjoyed mixed success after starting their respective UFC careers on high notes.
While they have both produced devastating knockouts in the past, Oezdemir got the better of Walker this weekend.
After attaching each other's legs in the opening minute, the light heavyweights let the punches fly. Oezdemir's punches rocked Walker and he tried to fire back. However, a right uppercut from the Swiss fighter knocked Walker out and the referee jumped in after a vicious follow-up strike.
This was Oezdemir's second-straight win by finish. Meanwhile, Walker suffered the sixth KO loss of his professional MMA career and the fourth in the UFC.
UFC Saudi Arabia prelims: Nasrat Haqparast and Rinat Fakhretdinov win
In the featured prelim fight, Germany's Nasrat Haqparast put his three-fight win streak on the line against veteran fighter Jared Gordon, who was coming off a TKO win over Mark Madsen.
In the fight, Gordon aggressively chased takedowns from the get-go while Haqparast tried to keep the fight standing with intercepting strikes and respectable takedown defense.
Gordon gave different looks to the German fighter with constant level changes and grappling attempts. However, Haqparast appeared to have landed the more damaging shots, earning a split-decision victory.
In one of the most exciting finishes on the card, Felipe Lima pulled off a surprise third-round submission win over Muhammad Naimov after closely contested two rounds. Naimov was forced to tap after the Brazilian took his back while clinching against the fence and sunk in a tight rear-naked choke. The win was more impressive considering that the newcomer took the fight on short notice.
Rinat Fakhretdinov, One of the highly touted fighters in the recent wave of talent from Russia, fought veteran fighter Nicholas Dalby in an attempt to score his second UFC victory. Meanwhile, Dalby tried to extend his winning streak to five.
Fakhretdinov seemed to be dictating the terms in Round 1 and also landed the most significant punch of the fight that dropped Dalby to his knee. However, Dalby made a solid comeback in the remaining rounds, proving effective in the clinch and the ability to get back on his feet. However, Fakhretdinov did enough to convince the judges and walked away with a split decision win.
Elsewhere, Muin Gafurov scored a unanimous decision win over Kang Kyung-Ho while DWCS standout Magomed Gadzhiyasulov out-pointed Brendson Ribeiro in his UFC debut to walk away with a majority decision.
Ribeiro put forth a good effort in the opening round. But Gadzhiyasulov took over from the second round, dominating on the ground with strikes, transitions, and takedown attempts. To his credit, Ribeiro did a great job surviving the relentless attacks but could not fight offensively.
In the first fight of the night, Road to UFC Singapore finalists Lee Chang-Ho and Long Xiao engaged in a fierce three-round battle at a relentless pace to start the event on a high note. After a grueling war, Chang-Ho emerged victoriously with a split decision.
Check out the full event results below:
Main card
Middleweight - Robert Whittaker def. Ikram Aliskerov by T/KO (R1, 1:49)
Heavyweight - Alexander Volkov def. Sergei Pavlovich by unanimous decision (30-27 X 3)
Middleweight - Kelvin Gastelum def. Daniel Rodriguez by unanimous decision (30-27 X 2, 29-28)
Middleweight - Sharaputdin Magomedov def. Antonio Trocoli by T/KO (R3, 2:27)
Light heavyweight - Volkan Oezdemir def. Johnny Walker by KO (R1, 2:28)
Preliminary card
Lightweight - Nasrat Haqparast def. Jared Gordon by split decision (29-28 X 2, 28-29)
Featherweight - Felipe Lima def. Muhammad Naimov by submission (Rear-naked choke) (R3, 1:15)
Welterweight - Rinat Fakhretdinov def. Nicolas Dalby by split decision (29-28 X 2, 28-29)
Bantamweight -Muin Gafurov def. Kang Kyung-Ho by unanimous decision (30-27 X 3)
Light heavyweight - Magomed Gadzhiyasulov def. Brendson Ribeiro by majority decision (29-28 X 2, 28-28)
Bantamweight - Lee Chang-Ho def. Long Xiao by split decision (29-28 X 2, 28-29)