The UFC may have just accidentally revealed some distressing news for Khamzat Chimaev fans. After pulling out of his previous encounter with Robert Whittaker due to illness, fans had hoped he would show up for this one. As it turns out, there may just be more drama surrounding the fight as the UFC has seemingly called the Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov fight the co-main event for UFC 308.
The tweet has since been deleted. The original co-main event of the evening was supposed to be Whittaker taking on Chimaev for essentially the #1 contender spot for Dricus du Plessis’ middleweight title.
The UFC were quick to delete the tweet, but not before the eagle eyed fans took screenshots of it. The speculations and rumors regarding the fight have now started circulating.
Fans are now wondering what could possibly have gone wrong for the fight to be removed from the co-main event. The pair were set to take each other on for five rounds.
The fight between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev is seemingly no longer the co-main event of #UFC308
The fight was originally scheduled as a 5-round co-main event
(via. @ufc) #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/SBP3uCrsAC
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 1, 2024
Many believe it could be because either one of the fighters doesn’t want it to be a 5-round fight, while others think Chimaev has fallen ill again.
Regardless, if the fight goes ahead as scheduled, it would seem Whittaker already has a simple plan for the Chechen juggernaut.
Whittaker’s plans for Chimaev
Robert Whittaker has fought five round fights multiple times. He doesn’t mind the grind and the soul crushing exhaustion of the championship rounds!
Chimaev, on the other hand, has never been in a fight for 5 rounds. The last time he went the distance in a fight was against Gilburt Burns and he almost lost that one!
So as an experienced vet, Whittaker has a simple game plan for his opponent.
In an interview with Submission Radio, the New Zealand native spoke about what he was preparing for the fight,
“Got to worry about how hard he’s going to push the wrestling envelope in the first few rounds. Then, what I’m going to do after that. After I stop the takedowns, after I get back up, just take the fight to him.”
Robert Whittaker speaks on being prepared for Khamzat Chimaev:
“Got to worry about how hard he’s going to push the wrestling envelope in the first few rounds. Then, what I’m going to do after that. After I stop the takedowns, after I get back up, just take the fight to him.”… pic.twitter.com/at2v5l2m9j
— FightCrack (@FightCrack) August 26, 2024
Now, all that said, Chimaev did hold his own even after he was busted open and battered by Burns. So it won’t be too much of a surprise if he manages to do that against the Aussie.
