Robert Whittaker is fairly confident in what Khamzat Chimaev is going to try and do against him. The pair are set to fight at UFC 308 and for Whittaker, it is a do or die fight. A win will most definitely secure a title shot for either of the fighters, but for the Aussie, even more so.
Ahead of their fight, ‘The Reaper’ spoke about Chimaev’s fighting style and said that although he does possess striking skills, his grappling is far superior.
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, the former UFC Middleweight champion spoke about his preparation for ‘Borz’ and claimed that he simply had to worry about how hard Chimaev was going to wrestle in the first few rounds.
“It’s quite simple, you gotta worry about how hard he’s going to push the wrestling envelope in the first few rounds…And then what I’m going to do after that…Taking the fight to him.”
Then after a few rounds when the Russian fighter expends his energy, it will be up to Whittaker to cut him open with his brutal striking.
A win in this fight will definitely lead to a title shot for ‘The Reaper’. However, he isn’t the only one looking to fight Dricus Du Plessis.
Whittaker not a fan of Poatan’s middleweight ambition
Following UFC 305, after Dricuss du Plessis retained his middleweight title against the returning Israel Adesanya, little did he know that he would be painting a bigger target on his back.
UFC light heavyweight champion and former middleweight champion Alex Pereira put out a statement saying he was looking to go back down in weight to challenge DDP for the title that he once held.
But Robert Whittaker believes its a bad idea, especially for Pereira since DDP likes getting hit. Whittaker also compared him to a zombie who just never stops coming at you, till you put them down for good.
“Honestly I don’t think that’s a good fight for him… Alex gets hit, and Dricus likes getting hit…Dricus hits hard.”
Robert Whittaker doesn’t believe it’s a good idea for Alex Pereira to go down and fight Dricus du Plessis
“Honestly I don’t think that’s a good fight for [Alex]… Alex gets hit, and Dricus likes getting hit…
Dricus hits hard.”
: https://t.co/jmucf2JGw6 pic.twitter.com/3vAMIK5D1t
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) August 26, 2024
Another factor Whittaker was unsure about was the weight cut. He spoke about how it will be tough for Pereira to go back down to middleweight after fighting a couple of fights at light heavyweight.
Of course, if Poatan will first have to go through Khalil Rountree, who is another killer of a striker and if manages to get past him, there’s a very very p*ssed of Magomed Ankalaev waiting in line for Pereira’s title.
So a middleweight bout should not even be in his calendar for the time being.
