Robert Whittaker has accepted Khamzat Chimaev’s challenge.
Whittaker is coming off a comfortable unanimous decision victory against Marvin Vettori at UFC Paris, whereas Chimaev is coming off a first-round submission victory against Kevin Holland in their catchweight bout at UFC 279. The Swedish-Chechen was originally scheduled to lock horns with Nate Diaz in the UFC 279 main event, but after missing the welterweight limit by 7.5 pounds, he was removed from the headline and demoted to the co-main event.
Having had trouble cutting down to the 170-pound weight limit, Chimaev has decided to move up to middleweight and is eyeing a showdown with ‘good guy’ Whittaker. In a recent Instagram post, ‘Borz’ respectfully called out the Aussie.
Robert Whittaker Accepts Chimav’s Challenge
In a recent interview with Submission Radio (as transcribed by MMA Junkie), Whittaker accepted Chimaev’s challenge in an instant.
“Oh yeah, cool – let’s do it,” Whittaker said. “Whatever. If it’s a fight that gets presented to me, then it is what it is. Yeah, I think it’d be a good fight. I think he’d be a hard fight. I think he’s a phenomenal fighter. I think he has a lot of strengths.
“I think I have a lot of strengths. I think I’m a hard fighter for him, just the same – and I’m quite good with my hands, can stuff a lot of takedowns. I’m hard to hold down. I’m squirmy, you see. Yeah, it’ll be an interesting fight. That’ll be a showstopper, for sure. I’m sure it’ll get a lot of people interested and excited.”
Who do you think would win a potential middleweight fight between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev?
