Ikram Aliskerov is currently unranked at 185 pounds.
Nevertheless, the once-beaten Russian phenom has the sportsbooks spooked, which may explain why Aliskerov (15-1) opened as a mere +110 underdog against former champion Robert Whittaker (25-7), who started as the -130 betting favorite.
Aliskerov replaced the ailing Khamzat Chimaev.
Money has since trickled in for “The Reaper” and the current betting line has Whittaker at -136 against +116 for Aliskerov, according to BetOnline.ag. Their five-round headliner takes place atop the UFC Saudi Arabia fight card on ABC this Sat. (June 22) in Riyadh.
More odds and betting lines for “Whittaker vs. Aliskerov” below:
ESPN. “But he understood what I wanted, he understands that I am in the fight game and I’m here to fight, so he said ‘leave it with me, I’ll talk with the UFC.’ My team went and spoke with the UFC and we organized it and now I’m fighting on Saturday still, so it’s all good.”
“It all happened pretty quickly, and I’m blessed in the fact that my team and management, the UFC themselves, and even Ikram that it all came together and I was still able to fight,” Whittaker continued. “A week out not many people are in a position to take that fight, so I would have done all that work for nothing and it would have been quite upsetting because this is my career, this is how I put bread on the table. So, I’m just very blessed and thankful that everything got across the line.”
To see who else is fighting at UFC Saudi Arabia click here.
