At UFC 308 on October 26, Robert Whittaker lastly will get the combat he has waited so lengthy for as he and Khamzat Chimaev face off in a five-round co-main occasion.
The 2 middleweights had been scheduled to combat in a primary occasion this previous June, nonetheless, Khamzat Chimaev withdrew from the combat simply two weeks out as he suffered one other well being scare.
As a substitute of withdrawing from the occasion, Robert Whittaker accepted a late discover change of opponent as he took on the hovering Ikram Aliskerov, subsequently knocking him out in spherical one.
Robert Whittaker claims Khamzat Chimaev is the hardest take a look at at 185lbs
‘Borz’ Chimaev hasn’t fought since UFC 294 in October of final yr as a result of well being issues and points attaining a visa, stopping him from combating in America.
Forward of his combat in opposition to ‘The Reaper’ at UFC 308, Chimaev has reunited together with his former coaches and has modified his coaching regime to keep away from overtraining which suggests he’ll hopefully keep properly sufficient to compete.
Training footage was shared earlier this week of Chimaev wanting in nice form forward of his conflict with Whittaker, with followers claiming that the Russian is wanting sooner than ever.
While nonetheless undefeated, Whittaker believes the Chechen is at the moment the hardest take a look at within the division due to the factor of unknown that comes with combating Chimaev.
“Properly proper now, it’s clearly Chimaev, proper? As a result of it’s unknown, it’s territory and floor that hasn’t been trodden but so yeah, I respect the duty at hand, and yeah, I’m simply wanting ahead to it,” Whittaker informed talkSPORT MMA.
“I’m in there to do a job, I’m in there to attempt to put him away, to bury Chimaev,” Whittaker continued.
Regardless of this being an enormous combat within the middleweight title image, the winner will possible have to attend for the fruits of Dricus Du Plessis vs Sean Strickland earlier than they’re afforded a title shot, with that combat being focused for the start of subsequent yr.
Robert Whittaker claims Chimaev will likely be in ‘deep waters’ as quickly as he steps into the Octagon
That is possible Chimaev’s hardest take a look at to this point, on paper, together with his final combat in opposition to Kamaru Usman approaching brief discover for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’.
The previous middleweight champion believes he holds a giant benefit over ‘Borz’ over 5 rounds and has claimed that as quickly as Chimaev has stepped into the cage, he will likely be in deep waters.
“As quickly as he steps inside that Octagon with me, he’s in deep waters. Then he’s already within the waters I need him to be in,” Whittaker chillingly acknowledged.
With Strickland and Du Plessis having already clashed earlier this yr, Whittaker believes the combat will play out the identical as their first assembly as Strickland doesn’t have the instruments to vary the end result.
“I believe very a lot much like the primary time they crossed paths. Strickland might need to do one thing very totally different which I don’t know if he can as a result of that’s not how he fights to beat him,” Whittaker predicted.
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