Despite his withdrawal from a scheduled UFC Saudi Arabia headliner with former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker tonight amid an apparent “violent” illness battle, unbeaten contender, Khamzat Chimaev claims his rivalry with the victor is far from over.
Remaining in the main event of tonight’s first trip to Riyadh for the organization, former undisputed middleweight titleholder, Whittaker made short work of replacement opponent, common-foe, Ikram Aliskerov.
Launching a blistering barrage on the Dagestani striker, Robert Whittaker felled Aliskerov at the Octagon fence early in the opening round, before forcing a stoppage for a first round knockout – handing the Russian his first loss in seven fights, and landing his first finish in seven years to boot.
Labelling himself as the “boogeyman” at 185lbs off the back of his emphatic knockout win over Aliskerov, Whittaker welcomed the chance to feature as the backup fighter to the UFC 305 headliner in August, as former opponents, Dricus du Plessis takes on Israel Adesanya.
Khamzat Chimaev takes aim at Robert Whittaker
However, receiving a warning from unbeaten starlet, Chimaev, Whittaker was reminded that whilst they failed to compete in the Middle East, the former still has sights set on settling their differences in the future.
“Congratulations @robwhittakermma we are not done!” Khamzat Chimaev posted on his official X account, as translated from Russian by Google. “I wish you a speedy recovery @ikram_aliskerov keep your head up my brother.”
?????????? @robwhittakermma ?? ?? ????????? ????!
????? ?????????? ?????????????? @ikram_aliskerov ???? ?????? ???? ???— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) June 22, 2024
Sidelined through a reported bout of “food poisoning” – Chimaev’s future in the promotion remains up in the air, with promotional CEO, Dana White explaining how every time the Chechnya finisher gets close to fighting, he’s struck with injury or illness.
“I saw this kid (Khamzat Chimaev)on ‘Fight Island’, he wanted to fight the next weekend,” Dana White said. “I let him fight the next weekend. He looked incredible. He’s been on this tear and lately, it’s been hard to get him into the Octagon.”
“Every time he gets close to fighting, he get’s really sick,” White continued. “I don’t know [how long it’s going to be before he fights again]. I don’t know what to say. It’s not like he’s over here in this country [United States], and we’ve had doctors here look at him or anything like that. He’s sort of out of touch, so it’s tough to deal with.”
Do you still want to see Robert Whittaker take on Khamzat Chimaev?