Ikram Aliserkov is all go all the time. Aliskerov scored his fastest UFC finish yet, folding Warlley Alves with a flying knee and barrage of punches at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Aliskerov made short work of short-notice replacement Alves. A stiff jab dropped Alves and things quickly unravelled for the Brazilian veteran. Aliskerov crushed Alves with a flying knee, threw up a head kick for fun and unleashed a storm of fight-ending punches. The stoppage came officially at 2:07 of Round 1, three seconds faster than Aliskerov's knockout of Phil Hawes in May.
IKRAM ALISKEROV DID IT AGAIN 😱
— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2023
Two first round knockouts to kick off his UFC career! #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/lTxr0qyEeO
UFC management appears to have high hopes for Aliskerov despite only having two fights under the UFC banner. The Dagestani fighter was originally set to fight ranked UFC middleweight Paulo Costa at UFC 291 but was rescheduled to face another ranked middleweight, Nassourdine Imavov. Alves was subbed in after Imavov suffered an injury. Costa pivoted to a fight with Khamzat Chimaev -- the only person to beat Aliskerov -- but was also pulled from UFC 294 due to injury.
Aliskerov improved to 15-1 with the second-fastest finish of his professional career. Alves, a UFC fighter since 2014, finds himself on his first three-fight losing streak.
CBS Sports will also have live coverage of the fight with round-by-round scoring and blow-by-blow updates to keep you up to date throughout the night.
