Khamzat Chimaev has reacted to Robert Whittaker’s first-round knockout victory against Ikram Aliskerov at UFC Saudi Arabia.
Chimaev and Whittaker were set to headline UFC Fight Night in Riyadh. However, the UFC middleweight division’s top prospect had to pull out due to illness requiring hospitalization, leaving way for Aliskerov to step in on short notice and take on a former champion and one of the best fighters in the world.
The difference of class between the two fighters was evident from the start as Whittaker dominated the early proceedings, before rocking the Dagestani with an uppercut and knocking him out cold on the follow up.
Soon after Whittaker’s impressive victory, Chimaev messaged ‘The Reaper’ using ‘X’.
“Congratulations Robert Whittaker, we are not done! I wish you a speedy recovery Ikram Aliskerov, keep your head up, my brother.”
Whittaker was asked about Chimaev’s tweet in the post-fight press conference, and he responded by saying that he’s down to fighting ‘Borz’, but not immediately.
“Don’t jump me as soon as I finish a fight,” Whittaker said. “I don’t want people to do that — I say that, but I probably did that once or twice as well. Let me have this one for a little bit, all right? We can settle the score another day.”
Whittaker also expressed interest in serving as a backup for the UFC 305 middleweight championship bout between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya. When questioned about potentially competing against a different opponent on that same card in Perth, Whittaker indicated he needed to have some discussions before making a final decision.
“It’s on home soil, I plan to be there one way or another,” Whittaker said. “But I do need to go back and talk to my team. I need to talk to my team about it. We’ve got to work on the other guys who are preparing. I took this fight and it sort pushed a lot of things around. I want to go back and talk to my team. Perth, it’s in my home turf. But, yeah, let me talk to my team.”
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