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 seemed poised all through the quick 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 a substitute, 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 a giant upset victory. Volkov entered UFC Saudi Arabia because the No. 5 ranked heavyweight, whereas Pavlovich was at No. 3.

Beneath we have a look at the winners, losers, full combat card outcomes and fight-night bonuses from UFC Saudi Arabia. The principle card for Saturday’s UFC Struggle Night time 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 discovered 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 numerous 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 strategy to this combat, which was clever. 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 strategy may not have been probably the most fan-friendly fashion, however going through 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 discovered 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 comfy, 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 grew to become 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 have been displayed throughout this light-weight combat. In a intently contested battle, Haqparast and Gordon had themselves a back-and-forth battle that would have gone both approach on the decide’s scorecards.

Haqparast was comfy 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 select up factors. Each males did numerous harm with their blows, Haqparast closing considered one of 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 break up determination, however Gordon misplaced no floor within the 155-pound division.

This was an awesome combat to shut out the prelims of UFC Saudi Arabia

Felipe Lima: Felipe Lima had a powerful efficiency on Saturday. An Oktagon MMA bantamweight champion who was coaching for a title protection with that promotion jumped on the likelihood to combat Muhammad Naimov at featherweight on the UFC Saudi Arabia combat card.

With nothing to lose, Lima was aggressive in each approach in opposition to 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 have 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 can 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 putting mixtures and confirmed some stable energy in his strikes. In the meantime, Dalby, who was the +275 betting underdog, confirmed numerous toughness and resilience, and he by no means gave up on himself.

Had this combat been 5 rounds, Dalby may need received, as Fakhretdinov appeared to focus on management fairly than harm 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 “Struggle of the Night time” 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 putting on this bantamweight battle. What stood out throughout 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 stability.

Magomed Gadzhiyasulov: Magomed Gadzhiyasulov picked up a majority determination win over Brendson Ribeiro in a lightweight heavyweight scrap. Gadzhiyasulov confirmed a kick-heavy putting sport and a heavy prime sport on the mat. One factor that stood out about Gadzhiyasulov’s efficiency was that he wanted to guide the dance extra. He was too reactive to what Ribeiro supplied. That is one thing Gadzhiyasulov might want to work on going ahead. If Ribeiro had higher cardio and better combat IQ, Gadzhiyasulov may need been in peril 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 received the bout by way of break up determination by making use of numerous strain to his opponent and doing numerous work to the physique.

Lee moved to 10-1 in his MMA profession with the win, however the 30-year-old appears 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 in opposition to 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 a number of the hype off Aliskerov, however to be honest, with simply two UFC fights on his report 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. Nonetheless, the UFC moved the combat to middleweight after it grew to become clear that Gastelum was not going to have the ability to attain the 170-pound restrict.

Gastelum seemed as if he didn’t try to 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 in opposition to 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 lowering time and area for his hyped foe.

Nonetheless, Trocoli confirmed no sense of urgency exterior the combat’s opening moments, which made him little greater than a goal for Magomedov throughout 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 seemed 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 comfy in opposition to Lima, a fighter he had not educated for.

Brendson Ribeiro: Brendson Ribeiro put collectively a superb 10 minutes in opposition to Magomed Gadzhiyasulov, however he ran out of fuel within the third stanza of their mild heavyweight contest. Had his cardio been higher, Ribeiro may 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 Group: I perceive that Saudi Arabia put some huge cash into bringing the UFC to Kingdom Enviornment, however the UFC commentary staff doing what got here throughout as public relations work for Saudi Arabia throughout the broadcast felt like pointless sportswashing.

UFC Saudi Arabia Full Struggle Card Outcomes

UFC Saudi Arabia Important 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 break 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 break 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 break up determination (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

UFC Saudi Arabia Struggle Night time Bonuses

Efficiency of the Night time: Robert Whittaker

Efficiency of the Night time: Shara Magomedov

Efficiency of the Night time: Volkan Oezdemir

Efficiency of the Night time: Felipe Lima

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