On Friday and Saturday, fight fans will get their fill of MMA as the three largest promotions of the sport will be in action. PFL kicks things off on Friday (4:30 p.m.
E.T. on ESPN/ESPN+) in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the lightweights and light heavyweights continuing their regular season.
On Saturday afternoon, UFC Fight Night commences in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Noon E.T. on ESPN/ABC), featuring a main event between former middleweight champion and .
Also in the afternoon, Bellator's Champions Series (Noon on HBO Max) touches down in Dublin, Ireland, as prepares to defend his welterweight title against . With 35 fights on tap across three cards, there's intrigue and curiosity all around. Andreas Hale, Brett Okamoto and Jeff Wagenheim hit on the storylines to focus on during a jam-packed fight weekend.
Aliskerov will have an opportunity to race up the middleweight rankings by stepping up on short notice to face Robert Whittaker after the only man he has ever lost to, , was forced out of the fight due to being "violently ill" according to UFC president Dana White. There's not much to know about the Russian outside of his two UFC wins coming by first-round stoppage against and . Whittaker is levels above Hawes and Alves, and it could be a case of Aliskerov simply biting off more than he can chew with little time to prepare.
But what if he isn't? What if Aliskerov defeats the former middleweight champion in Saudi Arabia? It would be one of the most significant leaps in UFC histor.
