Robert Whittaker is a true gentleman. After all these years of watching him fight, fans know the Kiwi does not have an appetite for trash talking. In fact, he is one of the nicest fighters in the roster. And in that spirit, ‘Bobby Knuckles’ has praised Khamzat Chimaev ahead of their UFC 308 fight.
Whittaker will take on ‘Borz’ after months of delay, in what is essentially a title eliminator, with the winner likely getting their title shot against middleweight champion, Dricus du Plessis.
But while most of the UFC roster will talk trash to each other, dragging every unnecessary aspect of their lives like dirty laundry, the Aussie has other ideas. Bobby Knukles is a professional sportsman and he acts like it.
Ahead of his fight with Chimaev, in an interview with Submission Radio, the Kiwi had nothing but praise for his opponent.
“I definitely think he’s the most dangerous because he’s the one in front of me, untested…He’s obviously very good, he took Usman down quite handily….It makes sense that he’s very good at what he does.”
However, that doesn’t mean it concerns the former champion as he believes he has wrestled with the best wrestlers already in his career so he doesn’t feel like the Chechen could do something he hasn’t seen before.
‘Bobby Knuckles’ is very focused ahead of this fight because he is so close to his end goal, a title shot. Ever since losing his belt to Israel Adesanya, he has been working his way back up.
Whittaker sure of title shot if he beats Chimaev
Since losing his title to Izzy before the pandemic, Whittaker has been on a constant journey up the ladder in the hopes that he can make it to the top once again and challenge for UFC gold.
And it seems that perseverance has paid off. He is almost there and a win over Khamzat Chimaev would definitely have his name up there with Dricus Du Plessis as the best the division.
But given how interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall’s career ambitions have panned out in the company, nobody can be sure of anything anymore.
However, conversation with Submission Radio, Whittaker talked about being confident enough to beat Chimaev and then move on to the title fight.
“I beat Chimaev, I’m fighting for the belt next. That’s it. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”
“ , ’ . ’ . There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”
The Reaper has no doubts he’s next in line with a win over Khamzat at #UFC308!
: https://t.co/X1yZ3i4Nwd pic.twitter.com/4DYiIEE0xY
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) September 9, 2024
The Aussie is so confident that he even believes he can take it away from Sean Strickland. The American is being touted as the current favorite to fight the South African. But as things do happen, Strickland comes with his own baggage of nonsensical demands like going against Dana White’s promises of hosting an event in Africa for DDP to defend his title.
Needless to say, Strickland wants it all under the shadow of the red, white and blue. So, there’s a lot that could happen between now and then.
