Prior to the main event for its first Saudi Arabia event, Dana White was convinced that it would be the “Greatest Fight Night card ever.” And after it was announced that Khamzat Chimaev, one of the biggest in the UFC will headline the Fight Night card against former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. And for a while, it did seem like the UFC CEO seemed to have come through on his promise.

However, ‘Borz’, who is reportedly in the hospital battling an injury, had to withdraw from the bout. This caused the UFC to replace him with promising 180-pounder Ikram Aliskerov for the main event of the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh card days from the June 22 bout. And Whittaker has made a surprising revelation about his Dagestani opponent in a recent interview with ‘New York Post’.

Robert Whittaker didn’t know who Aliskerov was before he replaced Khamzat Chimaev

Robert Whittaker is looking forward to facing Ikram Aliskerov in Saudi Arabia because of the unique challenge that the Dagestani pose. Aliskerov, of course, is another Dagestani MMA phenom, and like other fighters from the Russian province, has excellent wrestling skills, which he has used to good effect in his professional MMA career, winning all but one of his fights.

Interestingly the only loss in his career came at the hands of Khamzat Chimaev, back when both men fought for ‘Brave FC’. Only three fights into his UFC career Aliskerov has fallen into a golden opportunity because of happenstance. If he defeats the ever-dangerous Whittaker, he will make a strong case to be somewhere in the middleweight title picture (even if at the margins). Ahead of their fateful Saudi clash, Robert Whittaker has admitted that he didn’t even know who Ikram Aliskerov was before he was roped in to replace Chimaev.

“Ikram brings a different threat to the table. I hadn’t heard of him or seen him fight before that. Mate sometimes you’ve just got to take things as they come and yeah, I have full faith in my skill-set,” he said.

However, the Kiwi former champ was confident that he would be able to deal with the Dagestani in their historic Saudi Arabia, expressing confidence in his skill set. And Whittaker, with his remarkable well-rounded game, with excellent striking skills, combined with a potent ground game will certainly be a challenge for Aliskerov, who is taking a huge step up in competition.

Yet despite the uncertainties, one thing is clear, if the unranked middleweight can beat Whittaker, or at least give him a good fight, he will find himself not only in the rankings but also en route to a title shot at exceptional velocity.

Whittaker taking a significant step down in opposition to Aliskerov

If Robert Whittaker had defeated Chimaev, he would have been well on his way to fighting for the UFC’s coveted 180-pound title. ‘Borz’ after all, was the number one title contender for the middleweight title after his UFC 294 last year.

And although the division had moved on after Chimaev turned down a UFC 297 booking against then-champion Sean Strickland, the Chechen was still pretty close to fighting for the title. In fact, he was expected to be in the same position as Whittaker, i.e., probably one step from the title, if Chimaev had defeated the Kiwi in Saudi.

However, with Chimaev having pulled out, Whittaker is in a no-win position. Since Aliskerov is only three fights into his UFC stint and is relatively unknown, a win over him is unlikely to raise Whittaker’s stocks or rankings in the division. A loss, however, would come as a huge blow and the former champion will have to take the long road to a title shot yet again.