This past Saturday, the UFC Saudi Arabia hosted an entertaining but short-lived fight between UFC veteran Robert Whittaker and unranked fighter Ikram Aliskerov. The bout ended with Whittaker’s scoring a first-round KO win. The battle was originally supposed to be between Whittaker and former middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev, but the Russian had to withdraw due to illness.
Although Chimaev could not compete, Whittaker believes he would have suffered the same fate as Aliskerov if he was in the octagon.
“I was pretty primed and ready [on Saturday]. Like, I am 99% sure I would have starched Khamzat [Chimaev] as well. And our path may cross one day in the division, you know, as guys in the top of the game but he dodged a bullet that night.”
‘Borz,’ who has an impressive win record, has had multiple health complications and travel restrictions in recent times. These issues have made it difficult for him to get into the cage. Whittaker has high hopes for his fight with Chimaev despite hearing of the Russians being in and out of the hospital. In an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Whittaker spoke about his feelings following the news of Chimaev’s withdrawal.
“Not really, because of the location. I do know he’s had trouble getting to certain places and obviously health-wise, but you can’t account for health.” Whittaker said. “Obviously the location, I thought, was pretty bang on for him to get there. But it is what it is. I’m glad he’s doing well. I think he’s much healthier than he was pulling out. Outside of the octagon we’re just people. I don’t want anyone getting sick.”
Chimaev, on the other hand, still intends to battle Whittaker. After ‘The Reaper’ defeated Aliskerov, Chimeav congratulated him on social media. The Russians also challenged him and declared that they had unfinished business and he would see him soon. Whittaker laughed off the message with a reply. “First off, I was like, when are you going to see me, bro? You can’t go into a lot of countries. We’re not going to cross paths, dude. And I’m not going to be in the area. Like I said, I’m a middleweight. If he’s a middleweight–because I know he fights at welterweight sometimes as well– if we’re both at the top of the game, our baths may cross. I didn’t duck ya. I did not sign the contract to fight you.”
Although no announcements have been made yet, the plans have been rescheduled, and Chimaev will likely return in October for UFC 308.
