The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its Saudi Arabia debut with an intriguing 11-bout card that was announced after the official weigh-ins took place.
The main event featured former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker facing Ikram Aliskerov, filling in for the ailing Khamzat Chimaev at short notice. Both fighters stepped up to the weigh-in and looked ready to go all five rounds. Whittaker weighed in at 186 pounds, Aliskerov at a slim 184 pounds. All 22 fighters on the card made it in.
advertisement
This will be “Bobby Knuckles'” second fight of the year. The Australian previously bounced back with a win over Paulo Costa after losing to current champion Dricus du Plessis. At just 33 years old and with a record of 25-7, Whittaker will be looking to prove he is still a dangerous challenger. The former titleholder comes into the bout having won two of his last three fights.
This is arguably the biggest fight of Aliskerov’s career for the Russian fighter (15-1). The Russian fighter has had an impressive run inside the Octagon thus far, with quick wins over Phil Hawes and Warry Alves in his two bouts. His only career loss came against Chimaev in 2019. With a win, the 31-year-old Aliskerov will be looking to rocket up the UFC rankings and become an immediate contender with a strong showing.
Prelims for UFC on ABC 6 will begin at noon ET/9am PT on ESPN and ESPN+, before the main card moves to ABC and ESPN+ at 3pm ET/12pm PT.
UFC on ABC 6 weigh-in results:
Robert Whittaker (186) vs. Ikram Aliskerov (184)
Sergey Pavlovich (260) vs. Alexander Volkov (258)
Kelvin Gastelum (184.5) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (184)
Shalabdin Magomedov (185.5) vs. Antonio Troccoli (185.5)
Volkan Oezdemir (206) vs. Johnny Walker (206)
Jared Gordon (156) vs. Nasrat Haqparast (156)
Felipe Lima (145.5) vs. Muhammajon Naimov (145.5)
Nicolas Dalby (171) vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov (170.5)
Muin Gafurov (136) vs. Kang Kyung-ho (136)
Magomed Gaziaslov (205) vs. Brendson Ribeiro (205)
Chan Ho Lee (136) vs. Long Xiao (136)
Source link
