Robert Whittaker was sensational last night as he picked up a brutal KO win over Ikram Aliskerov on the Saudi Arabia card. But the race to the title seems far from reality for the former Middleweight Champion.
The Reaper looked levels above Ikram Aliskerov, who suffered the first loss of his UFC career. Needless to say, it wasn’t a surprising result. However, the way in which he earned the victory has many UFC fans asking for a title fight between Whittaker and the winner of Dricus du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya set to take place at UFC 305.
But does Robert Whittaker deserve a title shot after his heroics in Saudi Arabia? Not really.
Sean Strickland deserves to fight for the Middleweight title next over Robert Whittaker
Despite the KO win against Ikram Aliskerov, Sean Strickland has a better case to fight for the middleweight title. First, Strickland had quite a close fight against current Champion Dricus du Plessis. The razor close fight had many believing that Strickland won the fight.
A title rematch was guaranteed considering the manner in which the American fighter got hold of the belt by beating Israel Adesanya. However, that wasn’t to be the case.
Second, Sean Strickland beat Paulo Costa more convincingly than Robert Whittaker, who by the way, dropped a TKO loss when he fought Dricus du Plessis. So, if the argument is that The Reaper deserves a title shot over Sean Strickland off a win over an unranked opponent, it hardly makes sense.
Having said that, it’s not that Robert Whittaker doesn’t deserve a title shot next. The Australian fighter has done enough in his UFC career to demand a title opportunity.
Taking the Ikram Aliskerov fight on short-notice where he had a lot to lose, only proves that he wants to get back in the title contention as soon as possible. So, should he decide to wait for Sean Strickland to fight the winner of Dricus du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya, I don’t see how the UFC might have a problem with that.
2024 is half way in and Whittaker has fought twice already. So it’s highly likely he will look to be active for the remainder of this year too. Moreover, with zero damage in his fight against Ikram Aliskerov, the Reaper might be itching to get back in action. Who can be his next opponent? That’s for another time.