‘Violently, violently ill’: Robert Whittaker gets new opponent after Khamzat Chimaev pulls out

The Whittaker-Chimaev showdown in Saudi Arabia has been thrown into turmoil just over a week out after Chimaev withdrew with serious illness. Aussie hero to now face ‘a legit contender.’

Robert Whittaker has a new opponent for his fight next weekend. Picture: Getty Images

Robert Whittaker has a new opponent for his June 23 main event in Saudi Arabia, after Khamzat Chimaev was dramatically pulled from the UFC’s debut event in Riyadh due to health concerns.

Whittaker will now face the 16-1 Ikram Aliskerov in the hastily made new main event.

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Aliskerov has only fought twice before in the UFC, but the only defeat of his professional career was to Chimaev in 2019 in Brave CF.

The 31-year-old Dagestani has multiple gold medals in combat sambo, and trained under Khabib Nurmagomedov’s legendary father, Abdulmanap.

Khamzat Chimaev is out of his fight with Whittaker through illness. Picture: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Aliskerov knocked out Phil Hawes in his UFC debut at UFC 288. It was an impressive enough performance to see him book a fight with veteran Paulo Costa, although that bout was eventually scrapped.

“Unfortunately, Khamzat Chimaev is out of his fight next weekend in Saudi Arabia,” UFC president Dana White said. “He is violently – and I mean violently – ill, so he’s going back home and hopefully he gets well soon.

“The replacement is Ikram Aliskerov. This guy is 15-1, and his only loss in his 16-fight career is to Khamzat Chimaev.

“This dude is a legit contender in only his third UFC fight.

“If he gets a knockout against Robert Whittaker, he’ll go into a tie for the longest active UFC knockout streak. He’s got seven first round finishes, six wins by knockout, five by submission.

“This guy has finished 11 of 15 wins, he’s on a seven-fight win streak.

“We offered everybody in the division this fight. Nobody would take it, except for Robert Whittaker.

“The main event is bad ass. This should be a great fight.”

Ikram Aliskerov will now fight Whittaker. Picture: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The Whittaker-Chimaev showdown had been billed as a number one contender fight for the middleweight title.

Alarm bells started ringing this week when images surfaced on social media of Chimaev in hospital.

His withdrawal from the UFC’s much-hyped first trip to Saudi Arabia next weekend continues a chaotic few weeks, with serious question marks still hanging over Conor McGregor’s appearance at UFC 303 on June 29.

In his first fight in three years, McGregor is scheduled to face Michael Chandler in the main event, but pulled out of a press conference in Dublin earlier this month.

Since then, rumours have swirled about an injury to the Irishman, and the UFC is currently looking into replacement fights for UFC 303.

Originally published as ‘Violently, violently ill’: Robert Whittaker gets new opponent after Khamzat Chimaev pulls out