Ahead of the UFC Saudi Arabia main event, this coming Saturday between Robert Whittaker and Ikram Aliskerov, middleweight title challenger Israel Adesanya has offered his expert prediction.
The UFC’s inaugural event in Saudi Arabia was originally set to be headlined by Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev, however, last week UFC CEO, Dana White, announced that Chimaev was out.
Unranked middleweight, Ikram Aliskerov, was already preparing for a fight against Antonio Trocoli at UFC Vegas 93 this past Saturday, but instead opted to accept the call to step in to fight number three-ranked, Whittaker, on just a week’s notice.
Whittaker’s last outing came against Paulo Costa at UFC 298 this past February, and the 33-year-old dominated the Brazilian, picking up a unanimous decision win.
Israel Adesanya predicts Whittaker will ‘beat the breaks’ of Aliskerov
Although the 31-year-old Russian is currently unranked, he has been avoided by multiple middleweights, according to Dana White.
Despite that, he has the chance to instantly jump into the mix at the top of the 185lb division with a win over ‘The Reaper’, and it is a fight that former middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, is keeping a keen eye on.
“Rob was ready to wrestle in this fight anyway so the wrestling is going to be top tier in this fight I think,” Adesanya stated in a recent video on his YouTube channel.
“It’s a banger, I like this, I like this banger of a fight. But also, this guy (Aliskerov) who did he beat in his last fight, Warlley Alves, so it’s a big step up in competition,” the former champion added.
Aliskerov has only competed twice so far under the UFC banner, after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series two years ago. Since then, he has scored impressive knockout wins over Phil Hawes and Warlley Alves.
‘The Last Stylebender’ believes that the 33-year-old New Zealander will showcase his championship caliber, and will ‘beat the breaks off’ the Russian.
“Rob is a former champion, still on the hunt, still dangerous. I’m picking Rob in this fight, I think Rob is going to beat the brakes off this guy maybe from round two onwards, I think Rob gets past round one and he starts to put it on this guy and he’s going to feel a different beast,” Adesanya predicted.
Adesanya preparing for title fight against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305
The 34-year-old hasn’t competed since he lost the middleweight title against Sean Strickland back at UFC 293 last September. The Nigerian opted to take an extended period away from fighting, to finally recover from nagging injuries.
Despite that, Adesanya announced earlier this week that he will take on middleweight champion, Dricus Du Plessis, at UFC 305 on August 17, from Perth, Western Australia.
“The SUN of Africa is the same sun that lights up our planet. The SUN will set and will rise again until you walk into it. The SUN, enjoy while it shines. Darkness falls when it’s gone,” the former champion stated in his announcement.
Unfortunately for Whittaker, he will likely have to wait a while for a title shot if he is victorious against Aliskerov, as Strickland is waiting in the wings for a rematch against either Du Plessis or Adesanya.
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