Robert
Whittaker reminded everyone why he’s still one of the best in
the sport at 185 pounds.
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Faced with a last-minute opponent change in the
UFC on ABC 6 headliner, “The Reaper” pocketed a $50,000
“Performance of the Night” bonus for making short work of Iskram
Aliskerov on Saturday at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The
former middleweight king, who was originally slated to face
Khamzat
Chimaev, knocked his foe out at the 1:49 mark of Round 1 to
secure his ninth career bonus with the UFC.
Meanwhile, Sharabutdin
Magomedov received a $50,000 check for his finish of Antonio
Trocoli in a featured middleweight affair. “Shara Bullet” began
the fight-ending sequence with a knee to the chin before unloading
with a series of punches to force the stoppage 2:27 into the third
frame.
Elsewhere, former light heavyweight title challenger Volkan
Oezdemir earned a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for
his knockout of Johnny
Walker in a 205-pound clash. “No Time” ended the contest by
rocking his foe with a left hook and dropping him with a right
uppercut before rendering him unconscious with one final
nail-in-the-coffin right hand 2:28 into the opening stanza.
Finally, Felipe Lima
secured the card’s final “Performance of the Night” award for his
successful Octagon debut against Muhammadjon
Naimov. After taking the bout on a few day’s notice, Lima
forced the clinch, transitioned to his opponent’s back and forced a
tapout with a rear-naked choke at the 1:15 mark of Round 3.