Ikram Aliskerov plans to ‘unpleasantly surprise’ Robert Whittaker in UFC Saudi Arabia headliner

Although having two weight cuts in a two week span has not been fun, Ikram Aliskerov plans to make the most of a massive opportunity in his first UFC main event.

With Khamzat Chimaev falling ill and off of Saturday’s card, Aliskerov steps in on just nine days’ notice to face former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in the headliner of UFC Saudi Arabia. Aliskerov was slated to meet Antonio Trocoli this past weekend at UFC Vegas 93 before booking the biggest fight of his career.

While it may be a step up in competition, Aliskerov aims to send a message to the 185-pound division on Saturday.

“I’m not used to being the prey over there in the octagon,” Aliskerov said via a translator at UFC Saudi Arabia media day. “I’m not used to somebody hunting me, so I’m going to be the one that’s going to surprise him, and unpleasantly surprise him about being a hunter, myself. And I’m going to make sure I do whatever I need to do to finish the fight.”

Aliskerov enters the bout on a seven-fight win streak, including two first-round knockout victories to begin his UFC tenure against Phil Hawes and Warlley Alves. Aliskerov’s lone pro loss in 16 outings came against Chimaev at a Brave Combat Federation event in 2019.

The 31-year-old was a day away from weighing in for his bout with Trocoli before getting the call to fight Whittaker. Now, Aliskerov has had to go through the process all over again.

“Yeah, it’s not a fun process to say the least,” Aliskerov explained. “I was almost on weight back then. I was drinking water, pretty much made the weight, then I stopped drinking water, and then when I found out about the fight [with Whittaker], I had to stop the process, kind of hold the weight that I was at at that point for a couple of days, then come [to Saudi Arabia], start [drinking] water again, and then stop again because this is the same weight we stopped at last week.

“So it’s not a fun process, but this is sport. This is what we do. This is something we have to be ready for.”