| UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. Aliskerov | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. Aliskerov | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | June 22, 2024 (2024-6-22) | |||
| Venue | Kingdom Arena | |||
| City | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | |||
| Attendance | Not announced[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. Aliskerov (also known asUFC on ABC 6) was a mixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 22, 2024, at theKingdom Arena inRiyadh, Saudi Arabia.[2]
The promotion was originally expected to make its Saudi Arabia debut at anevent on March 2, 2024,[3][4] but on January 24, Saudi Arabia's chairman ofGeneral Entertainment AuthorityTurki Alalshikh announced the event had been officially postponed until this date, citing "a decision to reschedule was taken to ensure the best caliber of talent will be available to participate".[2]
A middleweight title eliminator bout between formerUFC Middleweight Champion (alsoThe Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight winner)Robert Whittaker andKhamzat Chimaev was expected to headline the event.[5] However, Chimaev withdrew due to an illness and was replaced byIkram Aliskerov, who was scheduled to fight a week earlier atUFC on ESPN: Perez vs. Taira.[6]
A middleweight bout betweenSharabutdin Magomedov and Ihor Potieria was expected to take place at the event.[5] However, Potieria was pulled to faceMichel Pereira atUFC 301.[7] He was replaced by promotional newcomer Joilton Lutterbach.[8] In turn, Lutterbach was pulled out on June 19 by the anti-doping commission because of a substance found in his urine and replaced by Antonio Trócoli, who was scheduled to face Aliskerov a week earlier.[9]
Said Nurmagomedov was scheduled to faceMontel Jackson in a bantamweight bout.[10] However, Nurmagomedov pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced byFarid Basharat.[11] In turn, it was reported that Basharat was unable to compete due to an injury and the bout was scrapped.[12][13]
Abu Azaitar was scheduled to face Denis Tiuliulin in a middleweight bout.[14] However, Azaitar was replaced by Sedriques Dumas due to an injury.[13] In turn, the bout between Dumas and Tiuliulin was postponed toUFC on ABC: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov due to visa reasons related to Dumas.[15][16]
A featherweight bout betweenMuhammad Naimov andMelsik Baghdasaryan was expected to take place at the main card.[17] However, Baghdasaryan pulled out during fight week due to a torn labrum in his left shoulder.[18] He was replaced by Felipe Lima.[19]
Former interimUFC Middleweight Championship challenger (alsoThe Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen middleweight winner)Kelvin Gastelum andDaniel Rodriguez were originally scheduled to meet in a welterweight bout, but it was changed to middleweight during fight week as Gastelum had issues cutting weight.[20]
| Main card (ABC / ESPN+) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Robert Whittaker | def. | Ikram Aliskerov | KO (punches) | 1 | 1:49 | |
| Heavyweight | Alexander Volkov | def. | Sergei Pavlovich | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Kelvin Gastelum | def. | Daniel Rodriguez | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Sharabutdin Magomedov | def. | Antonio Trócoli | TKO (knee and punches) | 3 | 2:27 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Volkan Oezdemir | def. | Johnny Walker | KO (punch) | 1 | 2:28 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Nasrat Haqparast | def. | Jared Gordon | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Felipe Lima | def. | Muhammad Naimov | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 3 | 1:15 | |
| Welterweight | Rinat Fakhretdinov | def. | Nicolas Dalby | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Muin Gafurov | def. | Kang Kyung-ho | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Magomed Gadzhiyasulov | def. | Brendson Ribeiro | Decision (majority) (29–28, 29–28, 28–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Lee Chang-ho | def. | Xiao Long | Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | [a] |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.[22]
