The Octagon invades Riyadh for today’s UFC Saudi Arabia event, an eleven-bout fight card headlined by Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov.
Whittaker (26-7 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since scoring a unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa this past February at UFC 298. The victory was of course preceded by a TKO loss to reigning middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290.
Meanwhile, Ikram Aliskerov (15-1 MMA) has gone 2-0 since joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The Russian standout has scored stoppage victories over Phil Hawes and Warley Alvez in his first two Octagon appearances.
UFC Saudi Arabia is co-headlined by a heavyweight bout featuring Sergei Pavlovich (18-2 MMA) going up against Alexander Volkov (37-10 MMA).
Pavlovich will be looking to get back in the win column after suffering a knockout loss to Tom Aspinall (14-4 MMA) last November at UFC 295 in a bout for the promotion‘s interim heavyweight title. That setback snapped a six-fight winning streak for the 32-year-old, with all of those victories coming by way of KO / TKO.
Meanwhile, Alexander Volkov will enter the Octagon sporting a three-fight winning streak, his most recent being a submission victory over Tai Tuivasa last September at UFC 293 (see that here). Prior to that, ‘Drago’ had picked up TKO victories over Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Alexander Romanov respectively.
Also featured on the UFC Saudi Arabia main card lineup is a middleweight bout between Kelvin Gastelum and Daniel Rodriguez. The bout was originally slated to take place at welterweight but was later moved to 185lbs due to a botched weight cut by ‘KG’.
Gastelum (17-9 MMA) will enter the contest looking to rebound, this after suffering a submission loss to Sean Brady in his most recent effort at UFC Austin. That setback was preceded by a unanimous decision win over Chris Curtis at UFC 287.
Meanwhile, Daniel Rodriguez (17-4 MMA) will enter the bout with hopes of snapping a two-fight losing skid. ‘D-Rod’ is coming off back-to-back stoppage losses against Neil Magny and Ian Machado Garry respectively.
Get all of today’s live results and highlights below (refresh for updates):
UFC Saudi Arabia Main Card (ABC, ESPN+, 3 p.m. ET)
Robert Whittaker (186) vs. Ikram Aliskerov (184) – Whittaker def. Aliskerov via KO in Round 1
Sergei Pavlovich (260) vs. Alexander Volkov (258) – Volkov def. Pavlovich by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Kelvin Gastelum (184.5) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (184) – Gastelum def. Rodriguez by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)
Shara Magomedov (185.5) vs. Antonio Trocoli (185.5) – Magomedov def. Trocoli via KO (punches) at 2:27 of Round 3
https://twitter.com/bjpenndotcom/status/1804605740620959784
Johnny Walker (206) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (206) – Oezdemir def. Walker via KO at 2:28 of Round 1
UFC Saudi Arabia Preliminary Card (ESPN, ESPN+, 12 P.M. ET)
Nasrat Haqparast (156) vs. Jared Gordon (156) – Haqparast def. Gordon by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Muhammad Naimov (145.5) vs. Felipe Lima (145.5) – Lima def. Naimov via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:15 of Round 3
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1804584533913952682
Rinat Fakhretdinov (170.5) vs. Nicolas Dalby (171) – Fakhretdinov def. Nicolas Dalby by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Kyung Ho Kang (136) vs. Muin Gafurov (136) – Gafurov def. Kang by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov (205) vs. Brendson Ribeiro (205) – Gadzhiyasulov def. Ribeiro by majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
Xiao Long (136) vs. Chang Ho Lee (136) – Lee def. Xiao by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Who are you picking to win tonight’s middleweight main event between Robert Whittaker and Ikram Aliskerov?
