Khamzat Chimaev hasn’t been the most active fighter on the UFC roster since late 2022. His pullout from the fight against Robert Whittaker in June created a lot of doubts about his reliability while he was suffering from an illness. The pullout might have annoyed ‘The Reaper’, who had trained for months for the fight against ‘Borz’, or so we thought. It appears that things turned out way better for Whittaker than he expected.

The fight’s rebooked and Robert Whittaker will finally get to lay his hands on Khamzat Chimaev in Abu Dhabi. With less than a couple of months from that fight, the former middleweight champion made a stunning revelation, while showcasing a lot of confidence about his chances of defeating the Emirati star.

Robert Whittaker claims Khamzat Chimaev’s pullout gave him more time to prepare

Fighters like to take time off from intense training unless there’s a fight coming up, and that’s exactly what Robert Whittaker did when the fight against Khamzat Chimaev was booked for Saudi Arabia. But ‘Borz’ couldn’t fight, which brought Ikram Aliskerov into the fold, and as we all know, Whittaker turned his light out pretty quickly. ‘The Reaper’ was already training for Chimaev, so getting one more camp to do the same training has made him “most prepared” for the undefeated star.

“This [Khamzat’s injury] has worked in my favor because, now, I’ve essentially had two camps for this guy, right? I think skill-set wise, I’m probably the best I’ve been, especially most prepared for Khamzat, theoretically speaking, as I could be right,” Robert Whittaker told ‘Submission Radio’.

The Aussie fighter also seems happy to be back in the Middle East and so far, everything has been working in his favor. “I’m in a good place, like, I like where we’re fighting. I like fighting in the Middle East, I think it’s cool there,” Robert Whittaker further stated. Moreover, he’s not done fighting in 2024 because ‘The Reaper’ is looking to end the year with four wins under his belt.

“I’m looking forward to getting another fight in before the end of the year. It’s been a good active year. So, I’m in a really good place,” Robert Whittaker added. The former champion even opened up on his game plan for Khamzat Chimaev, and the undefeated star might have to listen to what Whittaker has mapped out.

Whittaker aims to cancel Chimaev’s wrestling

Rag dolling and mauling are what Khamzat Chimaev has been known for since making his debut in the UFC, and Robert Whittaker recognizes the threat he poses in the initial rounds. ‘The Reaper’s looking to avoid Chimaev’s fast-paced takedown attempts in the beginning, which makes ‘Borz’ a big threat. If Whittaker succeeds in shutting down Chimaev in the early rounds, he plans to neutralize the Emirati star and give him a run for his money inside the Octagon.

“Yeah, definitely [looking forward to] that high-paced start and his wrestling prowess. It’s quite simple. You know, you got to worry about how hard he’s going to push the wrestling envelope in the first few rounds. And then, like, what I’m going to do after that, after I stop the takedowns, after I get back up or whatever, and just taking the fight to him,” Robert Whittaker stated.

Khamzat Chimaev showed some cracks in his shield in his last fight against Kamaru Usman, who seemingly took him to the limit. So it remains to be seen if Robert Whittaker’s two camps can help him hand ‘Borz’ his first career defeat. Let us know what you think in the comments below.