Ikram Aliskerov suffered a humiliating knockout loss to former champion Robert Whittaker in the first round. Headlining the UFC’s historic first-ever Saudi Arabia card against the former champion, Aliskerov took the fight on barely a week’s notice because Khamzat Chimaev pulled out after falling ‘violently ill.’ Going into the bout, Aliskerov, unranked and barely two fights into his UFC career, was adjudged only a slight underdog by bookmakers.

However, the ever-dangerous, fan-favorite veteran proved too good for the newcomer, showing there were indeed levels to this game. And the Dagestani clearly wasn’t on his level. But lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, in a social media post, encouraged and motivated Aliskerov to keep going and not be discouraged by the tough loss.

Islam Makhachev’s heartfelt message for Ikram Aliskerov after loss

Islam Makhachev took to his Instagram Story with some words of encouragement for his fellow Dagestani after the latter’s tough loss to Whittaker. “Your best days are still ahead, defeats are not a reason to be upset. We know what you are capable of,” the reigning lightweight champion wrote.

Aliskerov, of course, comes from the same stock as Islam Makhachev, with his coaches having been trained under Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s father, Abdulmanap. ‘The Eagle’ recently revealed that Aliskerov had also trained with him when they were both children. In fact, ‘The Eagle’ has been very complimentary of Aliskerov and his work ethic, terming the Dagestani middleweight a “future star”.

Aliskerov does have nothing to be worried about. After all, he was going into the Whittaker bout with every disadvantage. Not only was he taking the fight on short notice, which gave him barely a week to prepare for one of the very best middleweights in the world and come up with a game plan for him, but he also had to travel to Saudi Arabia and get acclimatized there; again, within a week.

While the Dagestani would have been in fighting shape given that he last fought just a couple of weeks ago, his first-round knockout has indicated that perhaps he is not ready yet to fight the top-ranked guys in the UFC’s stacked 185-pound division. This is a big loss for Ikram Aliskerov since a win (or even a close loss) would have seen him storm not only into the middleweight division rankings but also into the title picture. Let us now look at how the other matchups on the main card went.

How did other stars fare at UFC’s first Saudi Arabia card?

In the co-main event of the Saudi card, Alexander Volkov took on the knockout artist and long-time sparring partner, Sergei Pavlovich. The fight went the distance, with Volkov, well aware of his fellow Russian’s devastating and concussive power, put on a clinic in distance and range management, and went on to win a unanimous decision at the end of their three-round bout.

In addition, one-eyed middleweight dynamo Sharaputdin Magomedov continued his undefeated run, scoring a knockout victory over Antonio Trocoli in their main card bout. Former title contender Kelvin Gastelum, too, went back to winning ways after the recent worrying skid in his form and managed to win a unanimous decision over Daniel Rodriguez in their middleweight bout.

In the opening bout of the main card, #9 ranked Volkan Oezdemir knocked out #7 Johnny Walker, which is likely to bring him closer title shot. What are your thoughts on the UFC’s first Saudi card? Let us know in the comments.