“Let me finish him.” That’s what Khamzat Chimaev asked of Dana White back in 2023 when the Chechen Wolf found Alex Pereira in his crosshairs. Despite staying out of action for a while, Chimaev certainly impressed the fighting community with his phenomenal win against Robert Whittaker. Not only did he win, but he also dominated the bout and seriously damaged Whittaker’s jaw. This feat of strength extracted quite a bit of praise from ‘The Reaper’, but the Australian ex-champ provided a nuanced take on two possibilities that could play out in a possible ‘Borz’-‘Poatan’ matchup.

During a recent conversation with Jonny Roses on the MMArcade Podcast, Whittaker weighed in on the matchup between the ‘Borz’ and the ‘Poatan’. And while he picked Chimaev, he also acknowledged Pereira if the fight dragged on into the later rounds. “Chimaev, easily. Not easily, Chimaev though— he’s good at what he does. He plays into his strengths, but let’s say, hypothetically, Chimaev slows down, gasses a little bit, Pereira won’t,” Whittaker said. “He can strike asleep, dead tired. Dude’s been doing it his whole life. He’ll k–l Chimaev in the standup. It won’t be like that Usman-Chimaev fight where [Kamaru] Usman was, kind of, outboxing him a little bit at that period where Chimaev got tired. It’ll be a slaughter, but does it go that far?”

Well, Chimaev is eager to test himself against the man with the ‘hands of stone’. After all, he has been eyeing to become a triple champion. Following his UFC 308 victory, he said, “Bro, I talk about three belts for a long time. So, of course, I want to go up. But what Dana White and what the UFC want, I don’t know, man. If they give me first another fight in my weight, I need to take the belt. Then, I’m going to think about this as well.”

While getting a shot at three different titles might be a bit tough for the Chechen Wolf, getting praise from his former opponent was certainly not a difficult task. Let’s take a look at what ‘The Reaper’ had to say about Khamzat Chimaev’s strength after he personally experienced the power he carried. 

Robert Whittaker showers praise for Khamzat Chimaev despite 

Even though he lost the bout against Khamzat Chimaev, Robert Whittaker was pretty content with how the fight proceeded. After all, it was a fight that pitted him against one of the strongest men in the fight promotion. Taking to the MMArcade Podcast, ‘The Reaper’ previously revealed that he put in so much effort in wrestling just because of Chimaev. He said, “Props to him—the guy knows his strengths, played into them to a T, and is willing to burn it all there for it, right? Anyway, the takedown—he goes in, ankle picks me off the fence. It was a great takedown, it was a beautiful takedown.”

While Whittaker didn’t really point out Chimaev’s ridiculously strength, he didn’t back away from hyping up the Chechen’s skills. During the fight at UFC 308, the Chechen Wolf made Whittaker have to work extra hard to escape his clutches. But even after training extensively in the wrestling realm, Whittaker couldn’t stave off the Chechen onslaught. He continued, “And he was really good at making me work—always kind of reaching for underhooks, reaching for ankle picks, trying to get a hook in.”

Now, Chimaev might just get a chance to achieve his dream of becoming a triple champion. Following the battle between Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland at UFC 312, it’s Chimaev who will most likely get the next title shot. On top of that, rumors of the ‘Borz’ fighting Alex Pereira have also kept the fighting community busy speculating. But all we have to do, as fans, is wait and watch.

What do you think of Whittaker’s support for Chimaev? Do you believe Khamzat Chimaev can win against Alex Pereira? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.