The UFC was at Kingdom Enviornment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for tonight’s UFC Saudi Arabia combat card on ABC. In the primary occasion, former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker confronted late alternative Ikram Aliskerov in a 185-pound contest. Within the night’s co-headlining matchup, top-five ranked fighters Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov met in a heavyweight scrap.
The UFC had initially scheduled Whittaker to face Khamzat Chimaev in the primary occasion of UFC Saudi Arabia, however that combat fell aside when sickness prevented Chimaev from competing. Aliskerov, who was coaching for a combat on final week’s UFC Vegas 93 combat card, was moved to the Saudi Arabia occasion.
Whittaker, who entered UFC Saudi Arabia because the No. 3 fighter within the official UFC middleweight rankings, dispatched the unranked Aliskerov in devastating trend within the first spherical.
Whittaker moved to 26-7 with the knockout win. The previous UFC champion appeared poised all through the brief bout. The shut odds of the combat and the hype behind his foe, who was 2-0 within the UFC with two first-round knockout wins, did little to shake the arrogance of the ex-titleholder.
The combat was dangerous for Whittaker. Had he misplaced, his future title hopes would have probably evaporated within the warmth of Saudi Arabia. As an alternative, Whittaker walked out of Kingdom Enviornment unscathed, and his inventory will probably rise within the aftermath of the knockout win.
Within the night’s co-main occasion, Alexander Volkov scored an infinite win, shutting down the highly effective Sergei Pavlovich in a combat that noticed the betting underdog rating an enormous upset victory. Volkov entered UFC Saudi Arabia because the No. 5 ranked heavyweight, whereas Pavlovich was at No. 3.
Beneath we take a look at the winners, losers, full combat card outcomes and fight-night bonuses from UFC Saudi Arabia. The primary card for Saturday’s UFC Combat Evening occasion was on ABC, following prelims on ESPN.
UFC Saudi Arabia Winners
Robert Whittaker: One saying we hear typically in fight sports activities is that there are ranges to this. Ikram Aliskerov came upon on Saturday that he was not on the extent of former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.
Whittaker took care of Aliskerov, who entered the combat with a whole lot of hype behind, by knocking him out in devastating trend within the first spherical.
Whittaker confirmed his veteran acumen in selecting up the end.
Alexander Volkov: Alexander Volkov took a measured method to this combat, which was smart. He didn’t overextend himself. He didn’t take pointless dangers. He caught to a sport plan of utilizing kicks and jabs, and by no means allowed his foe, the hard-hitting Sergei Pavlovich, to get a bead on him.
Volkov’s technical method won’t have been essentially the most fan-friendly fashion, however dealing with an opponent who had by no means left the primary spherical as a UFC competitor, Volkov did exactly what he wanted to do to get the win.
With the victory, Volkov who has been with the UFC since 2016 and has by no means fought for the UFC heavyweight title, picked up his fourth straight win.
Daniel Rodriguez: Kelvin Gastelum left Daniel Rodriguez in a foul spot. Signed to combat at 170 kilos, Rodriguez came upon on Thursday that Gastelum was not going to make weight. The UFC moved the combat to 185 kilos, which left Rodriguez, who was on tempo to make weight, in a foul spot. Regardless of that, he accepted the combat.
Gastelum was unprofessional. Rodriguez was not.
Shara Magomedov: Shara Magomedov smiled after his opponent Antonio Trocoli scored with strikes early within the middleweight scrap. That might be the one second that Trocoli had success. After that, Magomedov used his kicks to maintain his opponent at bay. With Trocoli providing little to no offense within the second and third rounds, Magomedov grew extra assured and cozy, selecting up factors by way of kicks and energy punches to the pinnacle.
Ultimately, the affected person Magomedov picked up a third-round knockout victory in what turned a glorified sparring session.
Volkan Oezdemir: The heavy-handed Volkan Oezdemir scored his first knockout win in practically 5 years with a vicious stoppage of Johnny Walker. The defensively suspect Walker appeared tailored to supply Oezdemir with a spotlight reel KO, and that is precisely how this combat performed out.
Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jared Gordon: Output, strain, and coronary heart had been displayed throughout this light-weight combat. In a carefully contested battle, Haqparast and Gordon had themselves a back-and-forth battle that would have gone both means on the choose’s scorecards.
Haqparast was snug combating off his again foot and responding to Gordon’s strain with counters. In the meantime, Gordon, who was extra flat-footed, used his energy and strain to choose up factors. Each males did a whole lot of injury with their blows, Haqparast closing one among Gordon’s eyes whereas Gordon opened a number of cuts on his opponent’s face.
The judges scored it in favor of Haqparast by way of cut up determination, however Gordon misplaced no floor within the 155-pound division.
This was an ideal combat to shut out the prelims of UFC Saudi Arabia
Felipe Lima: Felipe Lima had a formidable efficiency on Saturday. An Oktagon MMA bantamweight champion who was coaching for a title protection with that promotion jumped on the probability to combat Muhammad Naimov at featherweight on the UFC Saudi Arabia combat card.
With nothing to lose, Lima was aggressive in each means towards Naimov. The 26-year-old scored a monster third-round submission win over Naimov, who was on a six-fight successful streak, three of which had been with the UFC.
Lima is on a 13-fight successful streak following the UFC Saudi Arabia combat card.
Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nicolas Dalby: Spirited could be a great way to explain the welterweight bout between Rinat Fakhretdinov and Nicolas Dalby. Fakhretdinov, who was a -345 betting favourite, put collectively good hanging mixtures and confirmed some stable energy in his strikes. In the meantime, Dalby, who was the +275 betting underdog, confirmed a whole lot of toughness and resilience, and he by no means gave up on himself.
Had this combat been 5 rounds, Dalby might need gained, as Fakhretdinov appeared to focus on management quite than injury as the competition went deeper.
With the split-decision victory, Fakhretdinov moved to 4-0-1 with the UFC, whereas Dalby noticed his four-fight successful streak finish.
This combat was a transparent front-runner for early “Combat of the Evening” honors.
Muin Gafurov: Muin Gafurov picked up his first win below the UFC banner in his third combat with the promotion, beating Kang Kyung-ho by way of determination.
Gafurov showcased stable hanging on this bantamweight battle. What stood out in the course of the 15-minute contest was Gafurov’s mixtures, which he used to nice impact.
If Gafurov can rein in his need to typically overthrow on his strikes, he ought to scale back the possibilities of his opponents selecting up takedown makes an attempt when he’s off steadiness.
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov: Magomed Gadzhiyasulov picked up a majority determination win over Brendson Ribeiro in a light-weight heavyweight scrap. Gadzhiyasulov confirmed a kick-heavy hanging sport and a heavy prime sport on the mat. One factor that stood out about Gadzhiyasulov’s efficiency was that he wanted to steer the dance extra. He was too reactive to what Ribeiro provided. That is one thing Gadzhiyasulov might want to work on going ahead. If Ribeiro had higher cardio and better combat IQ, Gadzhiyasulov might need been at risk of dropping this combat, his UFC debut.
Chang Ho Lee: Formally the matchup between Chang-ho Lee and Xiao Lengthy was not a UFC combat because it was the bantamweight closing for “Street to UFC 2.” Lee gained the bout by way of cut up determination by making use of a whole lot of strain to his opponent and doing a whole lot of work to the physique.
Lee moved to 10-1 in his MMA profession with the win, however the 30-year-old seems to be like he’s going to have some issues with UFC-level competitors.
UFC Saudi Arabia Losers
Ikram Aliskerov: Ikram Aliskerov took a short-notice combat towards Robert Whittaker at UFC Saudi Arabia. It didn’t work out effectively for him, as Whittaker knocked him out in highlight-reel trend.
The loss will take among the hype off Aliskerov, however to be honest, with simply two UFC fights on his document forward of Saturday, he was not prepared for a person as completed as Whittaker.
Sergei Pavlovich: Sergei Pavlovich struggled mightily with the vary administration of Alexander Volkov, dropping a one-sided determination win.
Kelvin Gastelum: Kelvin Gastelum accepted his UFC Saudi Arabia combat reverse Daniel Rodriguez at welterweight. Nevertheless, the UFC moved the combat to middleweight after it turned clear that Gastelum was not going to have the ability to attain the 170-pound restrict.
Gastelum appeared as if he didn’t try and make weight for Saturday’s occasion and one is left to surprise why the combat wasn’t moved to 185-pounds earlier than combat week. If Gastelum saved it a secret to get a bonus, that’s unforgivable.
Antonio Trocoli: Antonio Trocoli was on a freeroll on Saturday. He accepted the combat towards Shara Magomedov days earlier than the occasion. He opened the competition by touchdown some potent punches after which pressured issues to the fence within the hope of decreasing time and area for his hyped foe.
Nevertheless, Trocoli confirmed no sense of urgency exterior the combat’s opening moments, which made him little greater than a goal for Magomedov in the course of the second and third rounds.
Marc Goddard: Marc Goddard is an excellent referee, however he allowed Shara Magomedov to get away with a blatant fence seize within the second spherical of his bout reverse Antonio Trocoli that appeared as if it prevented a takedown.
Johnny Walker: The wild Johnny Walker of his early UFC profession is lengthy gone. In his place is a fighter who works behind leg kicks with suspect protection. His affected person fashion resulted in a horrible knockout loss to the highly effective Volkan Oezdemir.
Jason Herzog: Jason Herzog is an excellent referee, however his stoppage of the Volkan Oezdemir vs. Johnny Walker combat confirmed no sense of urgency, which resulted in Walker consuming an undefended strike on the mat.
Muhammad Naimov: Muhammad Naimov struggled with the strain and tempo of his late alternative opponent, Felipe Lima. Naimov by no means appeared to get settled or snug towards Lima, a fighter he had not educated for.
Brendson Ribeiro: Brendson Ribeiro put collectively a very good 10 minutes towards Magomed Gadzhiyasulov, however he ran out of fuel within the third stanza of their mild heavyweight contest. Had his cardio been higher, Ribeiro might need an opportunity on this matchup. He fell to 0-2 within the UFC with the loss.
UFC: The UFC had no ladies working the occasion, and there have been no ladies’s fights on the cardboard.
UFC Commentary Workforce: I perceive that Saudi Arabia put some huge cash into bringing the UFC to Kingdom Enviornment, however the UFC commentary workforce doing what got here throughout as public relations work for Saudi Arabia in the course of the broadcast felt like pointless sportswashing.
UFC Saudi Arabia Full Combat Card Outcomes
UFC Saudi Arabia Fundamental Card (ABC)
Robert Whittaker defeats Ikram Aliskerov by way of knockout at 1:49 of Spherical 1 (Punch to move at distance)
Alexander Volkov defeats Sergei Pavlovich by way of unanimous determination (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Kelvin Gastelum defeats Daniel Rodriguez by way of unanimous determination (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Shara Magomedov defeats Antonio Trocoli by way of knockout at 2:27 of Spherical 3 (Punches to move at distance)
Volkan Oezdemir defeats Johnny Walker by way of knockout at 2:28 of Spherical 1 (Punch to move at distance)
UFC Saudi Arabia Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+)
Nasrat Haqparast defeats Jared Gordon by way of cut up determination (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Felipe Lima defeats Muhammad Naimov by way of submission (Rear-naked choke at 1:15 of Spherical 3)
Rinat Fakhretdinov defeats Nicolas Dalby by way of cut up determination (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Muin Gafurov defeats Kang Kyung-ho by way of unanimous determination (30-27 x 3)
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov defeats Brendson Ribeiro by way of majority determination (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
Chang Ho Lee defeats Xiao Lengthy by way of cut up determination (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
UFC Saudi Arabia Combat Evening Bonuses
Efficiency of the Evening: Robert Whittaker
Efficiency of the Evening: Shara Magomedov
Efficiency of the Evening: Volkan Oezdemir
Efficiency of the Evening: Felipe Lima
Associated Tales
UFC Saudi Arabia Combat Card Odds & Predictions: Whittaker Vs. Aliskerov
Dana White: It Was Unimaginable For Ronda Rousey To Develop As UFC Fighter
NSAC Coverage: UFC Should Provide Refunds If UFC 303 Fundamental Occasion Is Canceled
Don’t Count on Dana White To Communicate A lot About Conor McGregor For Now
Dana White: Michael Chandler Needs To Wait For Conor McGregor
Dana White On Conor McGregor: Possibly He’ll Combat Once more. Possibly He Gained’t