Israel Adesanya recently gave his prediction for the main event of UFC on ABC 6, which takes place in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Robert Whittaker (25-7) will face unranked prospect Ikram Aliskerov (15-1) in the main event at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. Aliskerov stepped up to fill in for Whittaker’s original opponent, Khamzat Chimaev, who withdrew due to a serious illness nine days ago.
Adesanya predicts Whittaker will win. “The Last Stylebender” believes Whittaker should be able to match Aliskerov on the ground, as he has already been preparing for Chimaev, an elite wrestler. According to Adesanya, “Bobby Knuckles” will likely knock Aliskerov down in the third or fourth round.
“Rob was prepared to take this fight anyway, so I think the wrestling in this fight is going to be at the highest level. The striking is going to be good. It’s going to be intense. I love this intense fight,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Also, this guy [Aliskerov]who did he beat last? Wally Alves. But it’s a big step up against Rob. Rob is a former champion, still in the hunt, and still dangerous. I’m going to go with Rob in this fight.
“I think Rob will dominate his opponents from the second round onwards. I think he’ll get through the first round and give his all to his opponents and feel like a different beast. But we’ll see how it goes. We just haven’t seen him against this kind of competition yet. I’ll probably pick Rob because I know how good he is.”
[via Round] It’s a third or fourth round TKO.
Adesanya defeated Whittaker by knockout at UFC 243 in 2019 and defended his title by unanimous decision in a rematch with “The Grim Reaper” at UFC 271 in 2022. Whittaker has been the favorite to win every one of his recent bouts except for the rematch with Adesanya, and most oddsmakers have him as a slight favorite against Aliskerov.
Aliskerov has not lost as a professional since suffering his lone loss to Khamzat Chimaev on the regional circuit in 2019. The Dagestan standout has won 11 of 15 bouts, including two consecutive first-round stoppage victories to start his UFC career, while Whittaker is fresh off a unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa at UFC 298 in February.
Adesanya will challenge Drix du Plessis for the middleweight title at UFC 305 on August 17 at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
