Following the stellar evening in Saudi Arabia, the UFC handed out four bonuses including one to its former champion and KO artist, Robert Whittaker. On Saturday, ‘The Reaper’ proved that he is levels above his Russian opponent, making quick work of Ikram Aliskerov to take home Dana White’s $50k bonus along with his six-figure salary.
The promotion’s maiden event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was a treat for the fans in attendance and the UFC boss made sure everyone responsible for its success got a generous cut. On the main card, Volkan Oezdemir, who KOed the exciting Johnny Walker in R1 with plenty of time to go was awarded the Performance of The Night bonus along with fan-favorite Sharaputdin Magomedov, who got past Antonio Trocoli courtesy of a last-round finish.
Felipe ‘Jungle Boy’ Limas also got the POTN bonus after he submitted Muhammad Naimov in the third round via a rear naked choke being the only fighter in the prelims to bag the $50k cheque. Incredibly, the main card had three brutal finishes including Whittaker’s vicious stoppage of Aliskerov.
Brutal TKOs of UFC Saudi Arabia
The night was young in Kingdom Arena in the capital city of Saudi Arabia when Swiss athlete Volkan Oezdemir walked into the octagon to face Johnny Walker as a part of the main card event.
Both fighters started the fight by feeling each other out, scoping the range, and readying their guns. Then 2 minutes into the round, Oezdemir caught the Brazilian with a looping hook that wobbled him, followed by a nasty uppercut that sent him crashing to the canvas. Subsequently, a follow-up shot sealed the deal as Walker was left sleeping in the cage while the Swiss walked around the ring with his chin up.
The main event also ended up in an R1 KO when ‘The Reaper‘ found the chin of his unranked opponent, buckling his knees. Being the more experienced out of the two, Whittaker waited for his right moment instead of pouncing on Aliskerov and found the latter’s chin with a picture-perfect uppercut that sat the Russian on the canvas at 1.49 minutes into the first round.
While Aliskerov got smoked by the former champion, his teammate and countryman, Sharaputdin Magomedov found his rhythm later on in the last round to deliver a TKO loss to Antonio Trocolo.
