Robert Whittaker (27-7) closes the show early as he knocks out Ikram Aliskerov (15-2) 1:49 in the very first round to inch closer to another shot at middleweight gold on Saturday at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Whittaker rocked Aliskerov with a straight right and followed up with an uppercut to get the knock down. He then rained down several thunderous punches to put Aliskerov out and earn the 1^st round finish.

This is Whittaker’s first knock out victory since 2017, when he finished Ronaldo Souza in the 2^nd round of UFC on Fox 24.

After this victory, Whittaker has his eyes set on the middleweight championship bout between Driscus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya in August. If either Du Plessis or Adesanya were to pull out of the fight, Whittaker would be willing to step in.

Whittaker’s original matchup for this event was Khamzat Chimaev, but an illness led to him being removed for this fight. Then on a week’s notice, Whittaker agreed to fight Ikram Aliskerov.

“I’m the best in the world,” said Robert Whittaker. “I’m the most dangerous middleweight in the world. I’ll take a fight anywhere at any time and I proved it tonight”.

Ikram Aliskerov has shown he is a dangerous prospect in the UFC, but he has only had two fights in the organization. With Aliskerov taking this big of a jump in competition, Robert Whittaker was keen on using his familiarity of fighting at this level.

“I told everybody in the lead up to this fight I’m going to lean on my experience,” said Robert Whittaker. “I’ve been in this position a hundred times. I understand what I’m doing”.

In the co-main event, Alexander Volkov (38-10) extended his winning streak to four as he out struck Sergei Pavlovich (18-3) to a unanimous decision victory.

Volkov relied on this height and long reach to keep Pavlovich at bay. Volkov landed 83 total strikes, including 32 leg kicks, while Pavlovich only connected on 46 strikes.

 The two Russians heavyweights were very accustomed to each other’s strengths and weaknesses, as they were training partners previously.

They seemed to have great respect for each other, but that wasn’t the case after the fight. When Alexander Volkov went to embrace his opponent following the ending of the fight, Sergei Pavlovich shoved him away and walked off.

Nevertheless, Volkov continues to rise the heavyweight rankings and he could potentially be next in line for a title opportunity.

Elsewhere on the card, Kelvin Gastelum (19-9) returns to the winning column as he earned a unanimous decision against Daniel Rodriguez (17-5). The uprising Sharaputdin Magomedov (13-0) knocked out Antonio Trocoli (12-4) in the 3^rd round to further showcase his potential. Volkan Oezdemir (20-7) made it two in a row as he knocked out Johnny Walker (21-9) in the first round.

Prelims:

Nasrat Haqparast def. Jared Gordon

Felipe Lima def. Muhammad Naimov

Rinay Fakhretdinov def. Nicolas Dalby

Muin Gafurov def. Kang Kyung-Ho

Magomed Gaszhiyasulov def. Brendson Ribiero

Lee Chang-Ho def. Long Xiao