The hits keep on coming as it's being reported that Khamzat Chimaev is out of his main event next weekend in Saudi Arabia due to an illness.

It's a tough break for one of the biggest fights of the summer between Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker. This event is going to be the first-ever UFC event in Saudi Arabia and now the UFC had to scramble looking for a backup plan. From the looks of it, Dana White and the UFC has already a plan B in place.

Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov headlines UFC Saudi Arabia

It's been announced that stepping in on short notice to take on Robert Whittaker to headline UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22nd is Ikram Aliskerov.

Ikram Aliskerov was originally scheduled to face off against Antonio Trocoli this week at UFC Vegas 93 at the UFC Apex but now after the falling out between Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker, he gets the biggest fight of his career in 9 days.

Aliskerov is a 15-1 professional fighter who's just 2-0 in the UFC but he made his splash when he appeared on the Contender Series when he brutally finished Mario Sousa in round 1. Since securing his contract, he went on to get two more dominant finishes against Phil Hawes and Warlley Alves which set him up to take this fight on such short notice.

Also, his lone blemish on his record was a loss to the aforementioned Khamzat Chimaev. Aliskerov is up to the task and will be a tough fight for Robert Whittaker who's someone that is willing to fight anyone anywhere anytime.

This is certainly a risky fight to take for Whittaker who's still looking to get back into title contention. Going against an unranked competitor like Aliskerov who's as tough as they come is a big risk for one of the top fighters in the division like Whittaker. However, Whittaker is not a fighter that's going to sit on the sidelines and not take a dangerous fight.

We have to remember he fought an up-and-coming middleweight who's now the middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis when no one else would. He put his ranking on the line and it didn't work out, so there is some caution coming into this fight but Whittaker knows that a win still pushes him closer to a title shot.

UFC Saudi Arabia Full Fight Card

UFC Saudi Arabia Main Event On ABC/ESPN+ (3 p.m. ET):

Robert Whittaker vs. Ikram Aliskerov
Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alexander Volkov
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Johnny Walker vs. Volkan Oezdemir
Shara Magomedov vs. Joilton Lutterbach

UFC Saudi Arabia Prelims Card on ESPN/ESPN+ (12 p.m. ET):

Farid Basharat vs. Montel Jackson
Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jared Gordon
Kyung Ho Kang vs. Muin Gafurov
Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nicolas Dalby
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Brendson Ribeiro
Muhammad Naimov vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
Abu Azaitar vs. Denis Tiuliulin
Xiao Long vs. Chang Ho Lee