Robert Whittaker says late notice opponent Ikram Aliskerov is more dangerous than Khamzat Chimaev
Robert Whittaker isn’t taking his new opponent lightly, and has made a prediction on the UFC 305 main event between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya.
He’s unranked and has only fought twice in the UFC, but Ikram Aliskerov is a more dangerous opponent than the boogeyman Khamzat Chimaev.
That’s Aussie middleweight Robert Whittaker’s assessment of his late notice replacement opponent ahead of his debut in Saudi Arabia this weekend.
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Speaking just days ahead of his headline fight in the UFC’s first ever event in Riyadh, Whittaker also predicted that Dricus du Plessis will beat Israel Adesanya in their UFC 305 main event in Perth in August.
Whittaker had been preparing to face the undefeated Chimaev in Riyadh this weekend, but the Dagestani grappler pulled out through injury late last week.
That left Aliskerov (15-1) to step in and save the UFC’s first ever trip to Saudi Arabia and headline opposite Whittaker.
Whittaker admits he’d never heard of Aliskerov before he signed to fight him, but quickly got up to speed while finishing off his training camp in Dubai.
“The first time I heard about him – and this is no disrespect – but the first I heard about him was when they said we’ve got the fight with him,” Whittaker told this masthead shortly before flying from Dubai to Riyadh.
“I looked up some tape and understood straight away how dangerous this guy is, so I’m treating it appropriately.
“Honestly, he’s almost got a more dangerous skill set than Chimaev.
“It’s very different styles, it’s gonna be a hard fight and I think it’s more dangerous.”
A training partner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and a former pupil of Khabib’s legendary father, Abdulmanap, Aliskerov has 15 stoppages in his 16 wins.
He burst onto the scene on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022, and has since stopped both of his UFC opponents – Phil Hawes and Warley Alves – inside one round.
The 31-year-old was considered such a prospect, that the UFC was willing to give him former title challenger and UFC veteran Paulo Costa in just his second fight, before the bout was scrapped.
“He hits like a truck,” Whittaker says bluntly. “He’s got the full skillset and he’s a tough dude, so I’ve gotta be wary of that.
“He’s not slow either, and I’ve gotta be wary of his hands.
“He’ll take the fight in any direction and I’ll need to be ready to adapt on the fly, push my own plan and strategy and see what happens.”
Aliskerov’s only loss came against Chimaev on a Brave CF card in 2019.
The fight ended with Chimaev winning a first round knockout, but Aliskerov is so far the only opponent to successfully defend all of Khamzat’s takedown attempts.
“It’s hard to take a lot out of that fight because it was a long time ago, but it shows just how dangerous he is,” Whittaker said. “You see with the work he’s putting in in the UFC already, he’s running through people.”
While Whittaker is deep in preparations for his bout this weekend, the UFC confirmed middleweight champion du Plessis will defend the title against former champ Adesanya at UFC 305 in Perth in August.
Whittaker has fought both men, but says DDP has a good chance of beating Adesanya.
“I think Dricus has a really strong fight approach to beating Izzy,” he said. “I’m gonna back him winning this contest just because I think stylistically he matches really well against Izzy.
“I think that forward pressure, awkward pressure is just gonna be too much.
“Especially after the success Sean Strickland had against Izzy.”
When it was first announced, Whittaker’s fight with Chimaev was a title eliminator. Now Chimaev is out, it’s unclear whether that’s still the case, but it doesn’t change the equation for Whittaker.
“I’m not too worried about that,” Whittaker said. “Winning opens doors, so I’ve just gotta stay switched on, get in there, put in work and everything will fall into place.
“I try not to worry about things out of my control. I’m just here to fight, that’s my job, that’s how I put food on the table for my kids.”
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