UFC FightNight Whittaker vs. Aliskerov 6/22/24 – 22nd June 2024

Preview:

This Saturday, June 22, 2024, at UFC Saudi Arabia inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will see the bout between talented middleweight fighters Robert Whittaker and Ikram Aliskerov of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Aliskerov has only won twice in the Octagon, both times by first-round knockout. It has been challenging to book the Combat Sambo champion because several well-known rivals have been unable to secure a cage next to Aliskerov, forcing the Russian to compete against Contenders Series randoms. But in a strange turn of events, Whittaker’s scheduled main event and Aliskerov’s initial matchup collapsed almost simultaneously, paving the way for this excellent bout. Aliskerov is a talented player with a strong strike rate. His most effective foot weapon is the jab, which he uses to set up more potent combinations like the flying knee and right hand. The Russian is a skilled wrestler as well, and if he manages to take the lead, don’t be surprised if he goes looking for the kimura. This seems like a challenging style match for Aliskerov. Although it’s always worth a try, I don’t think he has the wrestling prowess to take down Whittaker, and striking with Whittaker is never an easy task. Fortunately, Aliskerov is a little younger and has a lot less mileage on him. To put it briefly, that implies that an unpleasant battle may just favor the Russian. We witnessed how Dricus Du Plessis was able to cause Whittaker to stumble and sustain injuries with a single takedown, making him more susceptible to strikes on the feet in the following round. In order to achieve a comparable outcome, Aliskerov needs to exert a little more pressure than normal and incorporate his wrestling techniques into his hitting, which will give him the best opportunity to injure the previous champion.

Whittaker is a fantastic Middleweight who has defeated numerous highly regarded opponents. He is a past champion. He accomplishes this with some of the greatest defensive wrestling in Middleweight history, as well as superb in-and-out mobility and wise shot selection. In this fight, movement is the key to victory. Whittaker has far more range weapons than Aliskerov, but he dislikes it when opponents move too much to let his jab to land reliably. Whittaker may win the jab fight by using his movement and speed, which limits his opponent’s most potent tool. Here, Whittaker would be smart to increase the number of low kicks in his offensive scheme. Whittaker has five rounds to take advantage of Aliskerov’s vulnerability to the strike due to his reliance on the jab and propensity to circle to his left. Whittaker will be well-positioned to dominate the championship rounds if he can win the range battle with patience and deal attritional harm.

Prelims – 12PM ET

• Lightweight Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jared Gordon
• Featherweight Muhammad Naimov vs. Felipe Lima
• Welterweight Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nicolas Dalby
• Bantamweight Kang Kyung-ho vs. Muin Gafurov
• Light Heavyweight Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Brendson Ribeiro
• Bantamweight Xiao Long vs. Lee Chang-ho

Main Card –3.00PM ET

• Middleweight Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov
• Heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alexander Volkov
• Middleweight Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez
• Middleweight Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Antonio Trocoli
• Light Heavyweight Johnny Walker vs. Volkan Oezdemir

EVENT INFO :

• Date: June 22, 2024
• Location: Kingdom Arena In The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Start Time: Prelims: 12:00 PM EST, Main Card: 3:00 PM EST