Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has made a statement in the UFC's maiden trip to Saudi Arabia, stopping Ikram Aliskerov in the first round.
Whittaker showed he remains a force right at the top of the 185-pound division, using his world-class striking to get his opponent out of there in under two minutes.
The 33-year-old Australian landed a right hand to put Aliskerov on wobbly legs. He then missed with a trademark right head kick but followed up with a picture perfect uppercut which left the Russian slumped against the side of the cage.
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The unranked but dangerous Aliskerov stepped up on late notice to replace Khamzat Chimaev and many had questioned Whittaker's wisdom in taking the fight.
"I told you, I told everybody - I'm the boogeyman, I'm the best in the world and I'm the most dangerous matchup for anyone in the division," Whittaker told Danier Cormier after the fight.
"I'll take a fight anywhere, anytime and I proved it tonight and I'll prove it again, I'll fight anyone."
Aliskerov came in on a seven-fight winning streak and, despite not being ranked in the top 15 at middleweight, was expected to cause problems for the Sydneysider with his powerful striking and solid ground game.
As it turned out, Whittaker was able to brush aside the challenge with ease, reminding the rest of the division of The Reaper's title credentials.
"I told everybody in the lead up to this fight, I was going to lean on my experience and that's exactly what it was," he added.
"I've been in this position 100 times, I understand what I'm doing, I told you, I'm going to be the hunter and that's exactly what I did."
Cormer then asked whether Whittaker would be willing to act as a backup to the middleweight title bout between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya set to go down at UFC 305 in Perth: "I'm healthy, I'm hardy, let's go."
Earlier, Alexader Volkov claimed a three-round unanimous decision victory over countryman Sergei Pavlovich in the heavyweight co-main event.