Fight fans are bracing for the epic extravaganza on June 23 when ‘The Reaper’ takes on the undefeated prospect Khamzat Chimaev. The 5-rounder banger is set to go down in Saudi Arabia with former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker daringly taking on the Chechen ‘Boogeyman.’ Will Whitaker be able to go past the undefeated Chechen and look toward a title shot in the future? Or is it too soon?
Despite Chimaev’s spectacular track record and his formidable reputation, Whittaker is as confident as ever, he is in fact looking past the wrestler, foreseeing a title shot after he strikes off the 0 from Chimaev’s resume. Easier said than done, but Whittaker is more confident than ever about his “upgraded” skills.
The former MW champion joined ESPN MMA for an exclusive where he revealed his thoughts about the upcoming bout. Responding to the host’s query, he was candid, essentially saying that a title shot would be lined up for him after he decimates the undefeated fighter.
“Certainly beating Chimaev opens me up-to a title shot. There’s no other way around it, I’ve beaten everybody else and to beat you know the boogeyman of the division you know the guy everyone doesn’t want a bar of just makes me look real good.”
‘Bobby Knuckles‘ exuded confidence when he made the bold prediction and on a closer look, one cannot negate the fact that he has valiantly kept his composure against the division’s top wrestlers. And Chimaev should be warier of him and not vice-versa, despite his wrestling pedigree for this is not Whittaker’s first rodeo.
In fact, the 33-year-old in his two wars against the Cuban Olympic wrestler Yoel Romero showed his versatility, stuffing takedowns to beat him to a decision.
Besides that, he even stopped Paulo Costa right in his tracks with clinical striking to pick apart the Brazilian. With that being said, it doesn’t mean that 5 rounds against Chimaev who boasts an unbeaten record and elite wrestling/grappling will be a walk in the park for the veteran.
However, Whittaker is optimistic that he can nullify the Chechen’s grappling with his own, imposing his strategy on ‘Borz’ to a crushing defeat.
Whittaker is confident of defeating the undefeated Chechen
The Aussie has been in the UFC for a while and has been in some epic battles, making him stronger with each fight like a Viltrumite. He is certainly not the one to shy away from one even if it’s against a ‘boogeyman’ like Chimaev. After wreaking terror in the welterweight division, ‘Borz’ climbed further up the ladder, going up to middleweight, and beating Kamaru Usman in his first MW bout.
Despite Usman being an elite wrestler, Chimaev took down the former champion in the very first round and looked to control the fight. Although to be fair to Usman, the former P4P king had taken the fight on a few weeks’ notice. Regardless, Chimaev got the win, and now he aims to knock Whittaker off the food chain.
However, in all honesty, Whittaker seems like he isn’t sweating at all. The ex-champion is super confident in his skillset and believes he will hold himself well against the Chechen if it comes to a grappling match. According to MMAJunkie, he said,
“I am very, very confident in my own skillsets. Even if it were a pure wrestling-jiu-jitsu format, I would hold my own if not get a W in that way too.”
He then subtly revealed his game plan, ie, to fight his fight rather than not playing to his strengths. Even though the fighter ideally doesn’t want to wrestle Chimaev, he has made it clear that he won’t back down if it comes down to that.
