UFC Saudi Arabia saw former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker turn Ikram Aliskerov‘s lights out with a 1st-round KO within two minutes of the round. According to CEO Dana White, nobody from the top 15 wanted to fight the Russian up-and-comer, but ‘The Reaper’ welcomed that challenge and in the end, emerged victorious. However, it didn’t seem to have any impact on his positioning in the 185-pound rankings.

The UFC’s first event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was full of some great action. Four fighters, including Robert Whittaker, took home $50,000 for finishing off their respective opponents. But guess what? Two wins in a row weren’t enough for the former middleweight champion to jump higher in the rankings.

Robert Whittaker remains in the 3rd spot with a possible Sean Strickland fight in the future

Yes, Robert Whittaker’s KO win over Ikran Aliskerov, who was handed his first loss under Dana White’s promotion’s banner, did not help him move up the rankings as he firmly holds his ground in the 3rd spot. He’s positioned just behind Israel Adesanya and the no.1 contender, Sean Strickland, who recently defeated Paulo Costa to stay in title contention.

It’s clear now that the title picture in the 185-pound title picture will involve Dricus Du Plessis defending his title against former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 305. So where does this leave Robert Whittaker? He’s defeated almost everyone in the top 5, except for one Sean Strickland, who’s made his intentions about gunning for the title as well, and he wasn’t happy when he got word about ‘Izzy’ jumping ahead of him to earn the title fight.

Longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan weighed in on the current situation with the middleweight title picture and concluded that the next thing for Robert Whittaker should be facing Sean Strickland, which is no less than a big-time main event. “I wouldn’t be upset if Strickland versus him. The main event for pay-per-view, right? And you can’t hit Strickland like that. He’s not there, tough. He’s standing up like this, he’s moving. He gets hit less than anybody. He’s so hard to,” Joe Rogan stated on JRE.

Meanwhile, it’s been a tough time for Khamzat Chimaev, Robert Whittaker’s initial UFC Saudi Arabia opponent, who is now outside the top 10. He lost the 9th spot to the 11th spot following his recent pullout. It remains to be seen what other changes will take place with UFC 303 around the corner. For Whittaker, there’s a chance he could be facing Sean Strickland next. Why? ‘The Reaper’s associates seemed seriously annoyed when ‘Tarzan’ was calling for a title shot and verbally blasted him for it.

Team Whittaker slammed former middleweight champion

Following the win over ‘Borrachinha’ Paulo Costa, Sean Strickland seemed hesitant to fight another contender and just fight for the title. But when Robert Whittaker’s agent, Titus Day, got word of it, he sounded off on ‘Tarzan’ and labeled him as being ‘entitled’. He said, “If you d*** around like Sean Strickland is now doing, if you whinge and complain, then you don’t get the opportunity,” Day told FOX Sports.

This interview took place a few days before UFC Saudi Arabia, where Titus Day showed a lot of confidence in claiming that a KO win is sure to grant the Aussie another title shot. Well, the knockout part came true, but we still don’t have a word on the title shot. But could these incendiary words from his agent plant the seeds for an upcoming fight against Sean Strickland? Will Dana White oblige him with the chance to win gold or will he pit him against ‘Tarzan’ is something that’s an ongoing discussion in the MMA community.

What do you make of the state of the middleweight rankings? Do you think Robert Whittaker vs Sean Strickland is the fight to make? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.