Ikram Aliskerov sends a warning to Robert Whittaker ahead of UFC Saudi Arabia: “Unpleasantly surprise him”

Ikram Aliskerov has sent a warning to Robert Whittaker ahead of their UFC Saudi Arabia main event fight.

Aliskerov stepped up on short notice to face Whittaker after Khamzat Chimaev was forced out of the bout. Aliskerov was supposed to fight last weekend, so he delayed his fight a week to take on the former middleweight title challenger.

Although this is only Ikram Aliskerov’s third UFC fight and one he’s the betting underdog in, he has confidence he will be able to pull off the upset.

“I am not used to being the prey over there in the Octagon, I’m not used to someone hunting me. So, I am going to be the one that is going to surprise and unpleasantly surprise him by being a hunter myself and I’m going to make sure I’ll do whatever I need to do to finish the fight,” Aliskerov said at UFC Saudi Arabia media day.

If Aliskerov does finish Whittaker it would be a statement win and would put the Russian into the title picture at middleweight. Even though he would only be 3-0 in the UFC, beating a former champion and finishing one would hold a ton of weight, and Aliskerov is confident he can do just that.

Ikram Aliskerov does have finishing ability as both of his UFC wins have come by first-round knockout. In his career, he has won 11 of his 15 wins by stoppage.

Aliskerov is currently 15-1 as a pro and coming off a KO win over Warlley Alves back in October. Before that, he scored a KO win over Phil Hawes. The Russians’ lone career loss came by knockout by Khamzat Chimaev in 2019.

Robert Whittaker, meanwhile, is 25-7 and is coming off a decision win over Paulo Costa in February. The victory got him back into the win column after he dropped a TKO loss to Dricus Du Plessis.