.svg)
Whittaker and Chimaev will clash in the co-main event at UFC 308 on Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. They were originally scheduled to meet at UFC Saudi Arabia this past June, but Chimaev pulled out due to severe illness. Whittaker went on beat short-notice replacement Ikram Aliskerov via knockout in the first round. Aliskerov’s only other pro loss dates back to 2019 against Chimaev, who called him the toughest matchup of his life so far.
Although Dana White has promised the next middleweight title shot to Sean Strickland, the winner of the UFC 308 matchup between Whittaker and Chimaev could receive the gold bid after Strickland. Going into arguably one of the toughest fights of his career, Whittaker plans to hunt down his opponent, who is known for his constant pressuring style. But “Bobby Knuckles” believes the Chechen-born Swede won’t be able to withstand the pressure that he vows to impose. Also boasting one of the best takedown defenses in the history of the middleweight division, Whittaker is confident he can deal with Chimaev’s elite grappling. “The Reaper” also hinted that he has an advantage in a five rounder against Chimaev.
“I definitely like the faith in my striking ability and the fact that I'm gonna go in there and I’m gonna hunt [Khamzat] down. I'm gonna take the fight to him,” Whittaker recently told Kevin Iole. “I don't think he'll be able to stand up to that. I don't think my wrestling defense and the caliber of my striking is going to give him an easy night. I can also fight from the first second through to the 25th minute. So I hope he's ready, because I am."
Whittaker has recorded back-to-back victories since suffering a TKO loss to current champ Dricus Du Plessis in a title eliminator at UFC 290 last year. Meanwhile, Chimaev has finished five of his seven UFC wins and comes off a majority decision win over Kamaru Usman in his middleweight debut at UFC 294 last year.
.png)
.svg)