Robert Whittaker has spent the last seven years as one of the five best middleweights in the UFC, and for much of that stretch, he wasn’t number three, four, or five.
Saturday at Kingdom Arena, the 33-year-old Australian will take on Ikram Aliskerov in the main event of the UFC’s inaugural fight card in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
It’s a short-notice pairing, cobbled together late last week when Whittaker’s initial opponent, undefeated boogeyman Khamzat Chimaev, was forced to withdraw due to illness.
Aliskerov, who was supposed to compete last weekend in Las Vegas, raised his hand to replace the only man to beat him to date, and Whittaker, true to his nature, agreed without hesitation, because taking on all comers — and beating the vast majority of them — has been Whittaker’s modus operandi from the very beginning of his middleweight journey.
We talk all the time, and rightfully so, about the veteran stalwarts that have amassed an insane strength of schedule over the course of their time competing inside the Octagon, singing the praises of fighters like Edson Barboza and Rafael dos Anjos that have faced a non-stop barrage of quality competition over the years.
Similarly, we understandably laud the achievements of competitors like Neil Magny or Katlyn Cerminara, athletes that have remained ranked in their respective divisions for what feels like centuries while constantly serving as the veteran litmus test for every fresh hopeful looking to work their way up the divisional ranks.
Over the course of his middleweight journey and especially over the past seven years, Whittaker has been a combination of those two archetypes ratcheted up to the nth degree, as he’s exclusively stepped into the Octagon with champions and contenders, building an outstanding legacy for himself along the way.
Whittaker’s middleweight career began with a win over Clint Hester on Nov. 8, 2014.
He had gone 3-2 over five fights at welterweight, besting Brad Scott to win the welterweight competition on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes and taking out TUF 16 winner Colton Smith before dropping a split decision to Court McGee and getting stopped by Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. He rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Mike Rhodes in June 2014, then shifted up to the 185-pound ranks to face Hester towards the end of the year.
Since that fight, here are the people Whittaker has faced, in order: Brad Tavares, Uriah Hall, Rafael Natal, Derek Brunson, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Yoel Romero, Yoel Romero (rematch), Israel Adesanya, Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, Kelvin Gastelum, Israel Adesanya (rematch) , Marvin Vettori, Dricus Du Plessis and Paulo Costa.
That is a non-stop barrage of tough outs, ranked competitors, contenders, and champions; Whittaker went 12-3 in those 15 fights, seven being main events, with his only losses coming to former champ Adesanya (twice) and current champ Du Plessis.
MMA fans have a strange way of re-qualifying results and wanting to re-frame history, often looking at felled champions and asking “… but who did they really beat?” and looking for ways to not give a fighter full value for the career they’ve built, as if someone doing what Barboza, Dos Anjos, Magny or Cerminara have is easy or the norm, yet alone having built the resume Whittaker has managed to assemble.
Competing at the highest level is difficult, and having consistent success is an even greater challenge. Spending years on end as a fixture in the rankings is something a select few are able to achieve, and remaining in the top five, never more than a win or two away from title contention, for five, six, seven years or more is even less commonplace.
Whittaker has done that and shows no signs of slowing down, both in terms of maintaining his place in the elite class in the middleweight division and sharing the Octagon with every daunting challenge the UFC can place before him.
He had no hesitation when it came to accepting the fight with Chimaev in the first place, and had no issue with the late shift to Aliskerov either because competing against the absolute best the division has to offer every time out, regardless of the circumstances, is Whittaker’s trademark and will be his enduring legacy.
The man officially known as “The Reaper” and more commonly referred to as “Bobby Knuckles” is an absolute savage, and we should take more time to appreciate him and those like him on a regular basis.
ALISKEROV IS NO SLOUCH
Anyone thinking Saturday’s matchup with Aliskerov is a layup for Whittaker is mistaken.
Though he’s made just two trips into the Octagon to date, the 31-year-old former Combat Sambo world champion has been a dark horse in the division since the day he arrived and his quick wins over Phil Hawes and Warlley Alves back that up. Moreover, it’s the fact that the UFC had contemplated pairing Aliskerov with Paulo Costa for his sophomore appearance and then did in fact pair him with Nassourdine Imavov before Paris-based contender was forced to pull out.
Aliskerov has been the guy stuck dealing with opponent changes throughout his brief UFC tenure — last weekend’s bout with Antonio Trocoli was originally scheduled to be against Andre Muniz — but this time, he gets the chance to be the one stepping up in hopes of sending shockwaves through the 185-pound weight class.
UNDERCARD OVERVIEW
Saturday’s fight card has undergone some changes from when it was first announced, but there are still a number of contests and competitors to keep close tabs on when the action hits the Octagon this weekend.
Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alexander Volkov: Friends and occasional training partners become opponents here as Pavlovich takes on his countryman Volkov in a pivotal heavyweight pairing.
The former is competing for the first time since his interim title fight loss to Tom Aspinall last November in New York City, which snapped his six-fight run of first-round stoppage wins, while the latter has morphed into an aggressive, attacking finisher over his last three outings, making this a genuinely intriguing matchup prior to the main event.
Muhammadjon Naimov vs. Felipe Lima: This one is worth watching for a few different reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Naimov is already 3-0 in the UFC and profiles as a sleeper of sorts in the featherweight division.
Lima steps up on short notice, moving up a division, to replace Melsik Baghdasaryan, entering on a 12-fight winning streak, having captured the Oktagon MMA bantamweight title last time out. Regardless of how this fight plays out, he’s someone to watch once he drops back down to the ultra-competitive 135-pound weight class.
The fun wrinkle here is that Naimov was in Lima’s position just over a year ago, jumping into a matchup at lightweight against Jamie Mullarkey. He registered a surprising second-round knockout win, dropped back down to his natural surroundings at featherweight, and has posted an additional two victories. Now he takes on the Mullarkey role, with his focus on ensuring Lima doesn’t replicate his performance from last summer.
Shara Magomedov: There has been a great deal of hype surrounding “Shara Bullet” prior to and since his promotional debut in October where he bested Bruno Silva on the scorecards. Unbeaten in a dozen professional MMA appearances, the 30-year-old faces newcomer Joilton Lutterbach, who has competed in a full complement of combat sports disciplines over his career.
[Editor’s Note, June 19, 7:55 p.m. ET: Lutterbach has been pulled from the card. Magomedov will now face Antonio Trocoli. Read more.]
Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nicolas Dalby: Stationed on the prelims, this is a terrific matchup between two fighters trying to break into the top 15 in the welterweight division.
Fakhretdinov has gone 3-0-1 over his first four UFC starts, most notably stunning and submitting Kevin Lee before engaging in a fun battle with Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos that ended in a draw last time out. Now eight fights into his second tour of duty with the promotion, Dalby arrives on a four-fight winning streak, having bounced Brazilian prospect Gabriel Bonfim from the ranks of the unbeaten last November in Sao Paulo.
The interplay between Fakhretdinov’s aggression and Dalby’s durability and conditioning will be fun to watch, and whomever emerges victorious will have a strong case for standing across from someone with a number next to their name in the second half of the year.