UFC Middleweight Robert Whittaker shares his thoughts on how good Khamzat Chimaev is compared to his past opponents
Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker and Khamzat “Borz” Chimaev are set to face off next month at UFC 308. This is the second attempt from the UFC at booking the two Middleweight’s after their original bout was cancelled.
On June 22nd at UFC Saudi Arabia Chimaev was replaced by Ikram Aliskerov just ten days before the fight. The UFC reported that Chimaev was violently ill and was ultimately hospitalised, ruling him out of the fight.
The new opponent Aliskerov did not phase Whittaker after a lengthy training camp the Aussie was ready to brawl. It was a quick night at the office for Robert finishing the Russian Aliskerov by a brutal first-round knockout.
Though Whittaker made Ikram look easy, undefeated Khamzat Chimaev will likely be a much trickier puzzle to solve. Chimaev plans to drag Whittaker into deep waters with his grapple-heavy approach to fighting.
But having faced the who’s who of the 185 lb division, Whittaker has seen it all. Since his move up to Middleweight in 2014 “The Reaper” has only lost to the very best in Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis.
With a wealth of experience behind him, Bobby Knuckles weighed in on how Chimaev compares to his past opponents.
Robert Whittaker Compares Khamzat Chimaev to His Former Foes
Robert Whittaker has spoken very highly of his upcoming opponent Chimaev. In an interview with Submission Radio, he complimented “Borz’s” ability.
He stated:
“I definitely think he’s the most dangerous because he’s the one in front of me—untested—he’s the unknown. He’s obviously very good. He took Kamaru Usman down quite handily and controlled him on the ground and Usman’s got very high-level wrestling.
For all his praise Whittaker is confident in his own ability.
“So, it makes sense that he’s very good at what he does. But I’ve wrestled with the best of them and it’s a fight at the end of the night.”
Having nullified the wrestling of past opposition like Yoel Romero, Derek Brunson and Ronaldo Souza, Whittaker is no stranger to a sprawl. If Whittaker can prevent the takedowns of Khamzat it will be exciting to see how Chimaev fares against Rob’s elite striking.
Fans will be counting down the days to see whether Khamzat Chimaev’s grappling ability is too much for Whittaker at UFC 308.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
