An outdated adage says “no threat, no reward,” and Ikram Aliskerov rolled these cube just lately.
He was all set for the UFC on ESPN 58 co-main occasion in opposition to Antonio Trocoli in Las Vegas 10 days in the past when phrase received round that Khamzat Chimaev was out of his UFC on ABC 6 headliner in opposition to Robert Whittaker. As an alternative of taking the battle with Trocoli, who was a late alternative, he left Vegas for Saudi Arabia to battle Whittaker in a nationally televised major occasion.
It was a tall ask to start with, however Aliskerov (15-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) ran right into a buzzsaw in former middleweight champion Whittaker (26-7 MMA, 17-5 UFC) and was knocked out within the first spherical. It was his first loss in additional than 5 years to, coincidentally, Chimaev.
After a pair of first-round knockout wins to open his UFC profession, Aliskerov posted on social media that he’ll proper the ship.
“Alhamdulilla, no excuses. I don’t remorse something,” Aliskerov posted. “It was a giant expertise in opposition to among the finest within the sport. I’m younger, I’ll work on my errors, be taught and get again into enterprise quickly. Thank to everybody for assist messages.”
Alhamdulilla, no excuses. I don’t remorse something. It was a giant expertise in opposition to among the finest within the sport. I am younger, I will work on my errors , be taught and get again into enterprise quickly.Thank to everybody for assist messages.
— ikram_aliskerov (@ikram_aliskerov) June 23, 2024
Whittaker has solely three losses prior to now 10 years: two to Israel Adesanya in title fights, and one to present champ Dricus Du Plessis in a title eliminator.
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