Robert Whittaker is still very much a member of the UFC's middleweight elite.

The former champion stopped replacement opponent Ikram Aliskerov with a vicious first-round KO of the rising star at the UFC's card in Saudi Arabia.

Aliskerov was part of the fight as a replacement for fellow rising star Khamzat Chimaev pulled out of the main event due to illness, part of a wave of high-profile withdrawals from the UFC.