UFC Saudi Arabia went tumbling down when Khamzat Chimaev, who was all set to finally fight Robert Whittaker, had to pull out of the bout owing to his persistent illness. Without a doubt, the world of mixed martial arts swooped in to diss the Chechen Wolf for his withdrawal and jeopardizing the fight at the last moment. However, the UFC head honcho, Dana White, quickly found a replacement. It was none other than Ikram Aliskerov, the fighter who has an undefeated record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. But he was defeated only once in his entire fighting career. And the defeat came at the hands of Chimaev.

The UFC CEO chose the Dagestani fighter to replace Chimaev for all the right reasons. To add the cherry on top, the former undisputed UFC champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, also swooped in to praise Aliskerov. But today, why don’t we take a look at the mixed martial artist’s only defeat against Chimaev?

Khamzat Chimaev vs. Ikram Aliskerov: The Dagestani fighter’s only defeat

Earlier, when the UFC CEO announced that Aliskerov would take up the fight with ‘The Reaper’ instead of ‘Borz’, he couldn’t help but lift the Dagestani fighter high. White seemed to believe that he was, without a doubt, the perfect candidate to replace Chimaev. Aliskerov is currently on an impressive 7-fight winning streak. He has a record of 15-1 and in case Aliskerov knocks Whittaker out, White claimed that “he’ll go into a tie for the longest active UFC knockout streak.” 

In his conversation with the Sports Business Journal, White pointed out Aliskerov’s single loss in the realm of mixed martial arts. He said, “It’s been interesting because we had to switch the Saudi main event, which is next weekend, you know what I mean? It’s f****** days away, so for us to put in this guy [Ikram Aliskerov] who is 15-1, he’s Muslim and his only loss is to Khamzat Chimaev…”

It was Brave FC 23, that featured Aliskerov vs. Chimaev, at Martyr Rashid Al-Zyoud Hall Boxing Arena. Arguably, Aliskerov was one of the toughest opponents that the Chechen fighter ever landed against. As the fight began, the duo kept testing each other’s strengths. But when the clock hit the mark of 2:26, Chimaev executed a phenomenal uppercut that knocked out Aliskerov.

Even though Aliskerov failed to secure an undefeated run in his career, he got praised by ‘The Eagle’ himself. Let’s see what the former UFC champion had to say about his countryman, shall we?

Khabib Nurmagomedov thinks Aliskerov is doing good

Aliskerov, hailing from Dagestani village of Kasumkent, is associated with Nurmagomedov. In the early days of the Dagestani Team, Aliskerov trained with Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, and with the legend’s guidance, he honed his skills in Sambo and Judo. He also sought Nurmagomedov’s advice every once in a while, although he currently trains under a different team. 

‘The Eagle’ recently went on his YouTube channel and talked about Aliskerov. He claimed that the UFC has high hopes for the fighter and he was indeed performing pretty well at the MMA promotion. “He is one of those fighters who shows himself in the gym as well as he does in the cage, in a fight. When Ikram steps into the Octagon, it feels like he uses 200% of his capabilities,” said Nurmagomedov.

What are your thoughts about his bout with Chimaev at Brave FC 23? Do you side with Nurmagomedov in his claims about his fellow Dagestani fighter? Take to the comments section and share your thoughts.