With just days to go until the UFC’s debut in Saudi Arabia, the show’s star attraction has been pulled from the card.
Top welterweight and middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev was due to make his first appearance since a controversial decision win over former world champion Kamaru Usman last October. But his showdown with Robert Whittaker has been called off due to a ‘violent’ illness.
Chimaev is a fan favourite, but can also prove divisive given his outspoken nature and frequent fight pullouts. His fight with Usman was his first in over a year after missing weight by a farcical 7.5lb for his scheduled bout with Nate Diaz which saw the entire UFC 279 card rearranged.
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Khamzat Chimaev replaced by Ikram Aliskerov in UFC Saudi Arabia main event
Promotional boss Dana White took to Instagram on Thursday evening to confirm the reported news that Chimaev was out of the Riyadh main event. The CEO confirmed that he would be replaced by Russian prospect Ikram Aliskerov, whose sole loss was against Chimaev in 2019 before they made the UFC.
“Unfortunately Khamzat Chimaev is out of the fight next weekend in Saudi Arabia,” White said, before explaining that he is “violently, and I mean violently, ill. So he’s going back home and hopefully he gets well soon.
“The replacement? Ikram Aliskerov. Who is Ikram Aliskerov? He is 15-1, his only loss in his 16-fight pro career was to Khamzat Chimaev so he is a legit contender in only his third UFC fight. If he gets a knockout over Robert Whittaker he will go into a tie for the longest active UFC KO streak.
“He’s got seven first round finishes; six wins by knockout and five by submission. This guy has finished 11 of 15 wins; 73 per cent finish rate. He’s on a seven-fight win streak. We offered everybody in the division this fight and nobody would take it except for Robert Whittaker.
“The main event is bad a**, this should be a great fight and Khamzat, get well soon my friend.” Whittaker, a former middleweight world champion, simply replied to the announcement: “Anyone Anywhere Anytime.”
Chimaev’s teammate Guram Kutateladze then shared a photo on Instagram of a man in a hospital bed that appeared to corroborate White’s claim of an illness. He shared a post to his Instagram stories with a caption which when translated read: “Behind every hardship there is relief.”
He burst on to the scene in 2020 with back-to-back wins over BAMMA and Cage Warriors champions John Phillips and Rhys McKee within just ten days of one another. But since then, he has developed a reputation for missing fights and lengthy absences as he struggles with his health.
Khamzat Chimaev pullout consolidates disaster two weeks for UFC amid Conor McGregor UFC 303 speculation
The cancellation of UFC Saudi Arabia’s highly-anticipated main event is not the only dramatic change the promotion have faced this month. The week after landing in Riyadh, they are due to break gate records with the UFC 303 pay-per-view event in Las Vegas.
But that main event between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler is also now in doubt after the Irishman was forced to skip a press conference for the event in Dublin last week. Since then, speculation has been rife about the show’s status, with latest reports from Ariel Helwani indicating a new main event.
McGregor and Chandler have both remained relatively coy on the topic, but the American did today share a tweet noting that neither has ever pulled out of a fight before. And to add insult to injury, it appears that they may need a new co-main event as well amid a further injury scare.
Former light-heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill was due to begin his route back to the belt against Carlos Ulberg in a very highly-anticipated matchup. But it is now being reported that one of them may be out, leaving the promotion scrambling further.
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