Middleweight Ikram Aliskerov was thrown to the wolves early in his UFC run, placed in a main event against Robert Whittaker in just his third UFC fight.
While that bout didn’t go his way, Aliskerov was still 4-1 in the promotion and looking to improve on that against Brunno Ferreira at UFC Baku in Azerbaijan on Saturday. Ferreira is A DWCS alum who holds impressive finish wins over Phil Hawes, Gregory Rodrigues, and Jackson McVey.
The first round started with Aliskerov pressing forward looking to land a big right hand. After a brief stop in the action for an accidently low blow, Aliskerov landed a nice knee followed by a takedown. Now in control on the ground the combat sambo world champion was fully in control with over a minute thirty remaining in the round. After the opening five minutes Aliskerov was in the lead.
The second round saw Aliskerov again take the fight to the ground where he threatened many submissions. Ferreira couldn’t get Aliskerov off of him and momentarily got to his feet but was returned to the mat moments after. Another dominant round for Aliskerov had Ferreira needing a finish entering the final five minutes.
Needing a finish in the final round Ferreira came out with a sense of urgency, but ran into a few solid straight shots from Aliskerov. Midway through the round Aliskerov again landed a takedown, doing some solid work until the end of the round. Cruising his way to a 30-27 unanimous decision victory, Aliskerov will likely receive a top opponent next, exactly what he called for post-fight.
Official Result: Ikram Aliskerov def. Brunno Ferreira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
