UFC Saudi Arabia Results: Winners And Losers From Whittaker Vs ...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 21: (L-R) Opponents Robert Whittaker of New Zealand and Ikram Aliskerov ... [+] of Russia face off during the UFC Fight Night ceremonial weigh-in at Kingdom Arena on June 21, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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The UFC is at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for today’s UFC Saudi Arabia fight card on ABC. In the main event, former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker faces late replacement Ikram Aliskerov in a 185-pound contest. In the evening’s co-headlining matchup, top-five ranked fighters, Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov meet in a heavyweight scrap.

The main card for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on ABC, following prelims on ESPN at noon ET.

The UFC had initially scheduled Whittaker to face Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia, but that fight fell apart when illness prevented Chimaev from competing. Aliskerov, who was training for a fight on this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 93 fight card, was moved to the Saudi Arabia event.

Whittaker is the No. 3 fighter in the official UFC middleweight rankings ahead of the fight card. Aliskerov, who has two UFC fights on his record, is unranked in the UFC’s 185-pound weight division.

Whittaker (25-7) has alternated wins and losses over his past five trips to the Octagon with his setbacks coming to Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis. His most recent fight came in February when he defeated Paulo Costa by decision.

Aliskerov (15-1) has only been with the UFC since May 2023. He is 2-0 with the promotion with two first-round knockout wins. He is coming off an October “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning stoppage over Warlley Alves.

The heavyweight co-main event sees the No. 3 ranked Pavlovich meet the No. 5 ranked Volkov. Pavlovich (18-2) is fighting for the first time since Tom Aspinall knocked him out in November 2023 to claim the interim UFC heavyweight title. Pavlovich was on a six-fight winning streak before that loss. Volkov (37-10) is riding a three-fight winning streak into the UFC Saudi Arabia event. His most recent victory was a September 2023 submission win over Tai Tuivasa.

UFC Saudi Arabia results, winners and losers will be updated live throughout tonight’s fight card.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 21: (L-R) Opponents Sergei Pavlovich of Russia and Alexander Volkov of ... [+] Russia face off during the UFC Fight Night ceremonial weigh-in at Kingdom Arena on June 21, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Zuffa LLC via Getty Images UFC Saudi Arabia Winners

Shara Magomedov: Shara Magomedov smiled after his opponent Antonio Trocoli scored with strikes early in the middleweight scrap. That would be the only moment that Trocoli had success. After that, Magomedov used his kicks to keep his opponent at bay. With Trocoli offering little to no offense in the second and third rounds, Magomedov grew more confident and comfortable, picking up points via kicks and power punches to the head.

In the end, the patient Magomedov picked up a third-round knockout victory in what became a glorified sparring session.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: (R-L) Shara Magomedov of Russia punches Antonio Trocoli of Brazil in ... [+] a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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Volkan Oezdemir: The heavy-handed Volkan Oezdemir scored his first knockout win in nearly five years with a vicious stoppage of Johnny Walker. The defensively suspect Walker seemed tailor-made to provide Oezdemir with a highlight reel KO, and that's exactly how this fight played out.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: Volkan Oezdemir of Switzerland reacts after his knockout victory ... [+] against Johnny Walker of Brazil in a light heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jared Gordon: Output, pressure, and heart were displayed during this lightweight fight. In a closely contested conflict, Haqparast and Gordon had themselves a back-and-forth battle that could have gone either way on the judge's scorecards.

Haqparast was comfortable fighting off his back foot and responding to Gordon's pressure with counters. Meanwhile, Gordon, who was more flat-footed, used his power and pressure to pick up points. Both men did a lot of damage with their blows, Haqparast closing one of Gordon's eyes while Gordon opened several cuts on his opponent's face.

The judges scored it in favor of Haqparast via split decision, but Gordon lost no ground in the 155-pound division.

This was a great fight to close out the prelims of UFC Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: (R-L) Nasrat Haqparast of Germany punches Jared Gordon in a ... [+] lightweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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Felipe Lima: Felipe Lima had an impressive performance on Saturday. An Oktagon MMA bantamweight champion who was training for a title defense with that promotion jumped at the chance to fight Muhammad Naimov at featherweight on the UFC Saudi Arabia fight card.

With nothing to lose, Lima was aggressive in every way against Naimov. The 26-year-old scored a monster third-round submission win over Naimov, who was on a six-fight winning streak, three of which were with the UFC.

Lima is on a 13-fight winning streak following the UFC Saudi Arabia fight card.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: (L-R) Felipe Lima of Brazil secures a rear choke submission against ... [+] Muhammad Naimov of Tajikistan in a featherweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nicolas Dalby: Spirited would be a good way to describe the welterweight bout between Rinat Fakhretdinov and Nicolas Dalby. Fakhretdinov, who was a -345 betting favorite, put together good striking combinations and showed some solid power in his strikes. Meanwhile, Dalby, who was the +275 betting underdog, showed a lot of toughness and resilience, and he never gave up on himself.

Had this fight been five rounds, Dalby might have won, as Fakhretdinov seemed to concentrate on control rather than damage as the contest went deeper.

With the split-decision victory, Fakhretdinov moved to 4-0-1 with the UFC, while Dalby saw his four-fight winning streak end.

This fight was a clear front-runner for early "Fight of the Night" honors.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: (L-R) Rinat Fakhretdinov of Russia punches Nicolas Dalby of Denmark ... [+] in a welterweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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Muin Gafurov: Muin Gafurov picked up his first win under the UFC banner in his third fight with the promotion, beating Kang Kyung-ho via decision.

Gafurov showcased solid striking in this bantamweight battle. What stood out during the 15-minute contest was Gafurov’s combinations, which he used to great effect.

If Gafurov can rein in his desire to sometimes overthrow on his strikes, he should reduce the chances of his opponents picking up takedown attempts when he’s off balance.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: (L-R) Muin Gafurov of Tajikistan punches Kyung Ho Kang of South ... [+] Korea in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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Magomed Gadzhiyasulov: Magomed Gadzhiyasulov picked up a majority decision win over Brendson Ribeiro in a light heavyweight scrap. Gadzhiyasulov showed a kick-heavy striking game and a heavy top game on the mat. One thing that stood out about Gadzhiyasulov's performance was that he needed to lead the dance more. He was too reactive to what Ribeiro offered. This is something Gadzhiyasulov will need to work on going forward. If Ribeiro had better cardio and higher fight IQ, Gadzhiyasulov might have been in danger of losing this fight, his UFC debut.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: (R-L) Magomed Gadzhiyasulov of Russia punches Brendson Ribeiro of ... [+] Brazil in a light heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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Chang Ho Lee: Officially the matchup between Chang-ho Lee and Xiao Long was not a UFC fight as it was the bantamweight final for “Road to UFC 2.” Lee won the bout via split decision by applying a lot of pressure to his opponent and doing a lot of work to the body.

Lee moved to 10-1 in his MMA career with the win, but the 30-year-old looks like he’s going to have some problems with UFC-level competition.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: ChangHo Lee of South Korea reacts after his victory against Xiao ... [+] Long of China in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Zuffa LLC via Getty Images UFC Saudi Arabia Losers

Antonio Trocoli: Antonio Trocoli was on a freeroll on Saturday. He accepted the fight against Shara Magomedov days before the event. He opened the contest by landing some potent punches and then forced things to the fence in the hope of reducing time and space for his hyped foe.

However, Trocoli showed no sense of urgency outside the fight's opening moments, which made him little more than a target for Magomedov during the second and third rounds.

Marc Goddard: Marc Goddard is a very good referee, but he allowed Shara Magomedov to get away with a blatant fence grab in the second round of his bout opposite Antonio Trocoli that looked as if it prevented a takedown.

Johnny Walker: The wild Johnny Walker of his early UFC career is long gone. In his place is a fighter who works behind leg kicks with suspect defense. His patient style resulted in a terrible knockout loss to the powerful Volkan Oezdemir.

Jason Herzog: Jason Herzog is a very good referee, but his stoppage of the Volkan Oezdemir vs. Johnny Walker fight showed no sense of urgency, which resulted in Walker eating an undefended strike on the mat.

Muhammad Naimov: Muhammad Naimov struggled with the pressure and pace of his late replacement opponent, Felipe Lima. Naimov never seemed to get settled or comfortable against Lima, a fighter he had not trained for.

Brendson Ribeiro: Brendson Ribeiro put together a good 10 minutes against Magomed Gadzhiyasulov, but he ran out of gas in the third stanza of their light heavyweight contest. Had his cardio been better, Ribeiro might have a chance in this matchup. He fell to 0-2 in the UFC with the loss.

UFC: The UFC had no women working the event, and there were no women’s fights on the card.

UFC Commentary Team: I understand that Saudi Arabia put a lot of money into bringing the UFC to Kingdom Arena, but the UFC commentary team doing what came across as public relations work for Saudi Arabia during the broadcast felt like unnecessary sportswashing.

UFC Saudi Arabia Fight Card Results UFC Saudi Arabia Full Fight Card UFC Saudi Arabia Main Card (ABC)

Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov

Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alexander Volkov

Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez

Shara Magomedov defeats Antonio Trocoli via knockout at 2:27 of Round 3 (Punches to head at distance)

Volkan Oezdemir defeats Johnny Walker via knockout at 2:28 of Round 1 (Punch to head at distance)

UFC Saudi Arabia Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+)

Nasrat Haqparast defeats Jared Gordon via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Felipe Lima defeats Muhammad Naimov via submission (Rear-naked choke at 1:15 of Round 3)

Rinat Fakhretdinov defeats Nicolas Dalby via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Muin Gafurov defeats Kang Kyung-ho via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

Magomed Gadzhiyasulov defeats Brendson Ribeiro via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)

Chang Ho Lee defeats Xiao Long via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 21: (L-R) Opponents Kelvin Gastelum and Daniel Rodriguez face off during ... [+] the UFC Fight Night ceremonial weigh-in at Kingdom Arena on June 21, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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