“I asked for the fight. It wasn’t offered to me,” Robert Whittaker had said about his rescheduled fight against Khamzat Chimaev on October 26 in the UFC 308. And why did he do that? ‘The Repaer’ thinks that a win over an undefeated Khamzat would earn him a title shot against the new middleweight kingpin, Dricus Du Plessis, to get his belt back. For the unversed, their fight was supposed to take place on June 23 in UFC on ABC. But Borz pulled out after falling “violently ill.” So how difficult the fight is going to be for Rob?

Rob is currently unbeaten in his last two fights (against Paulo Costa in the UFC 298 and Ikram Aliskerov in the UFC on ABC). On the other hand, Khamzat has faced a lot of health issues lately but was once considered the number-one contender in the division. Before his prolonged break from the sport, he was ‘smashing’ everybody inside the Octagon. In his last fight in the UFC 294 in October last year, he secured a majority decision win over Kamaru Usman. So, what exactly should be Rob’s game plan? A UFC veteran has his take on this.

To discuss the upcoming fight, Stephen Thompson sat down for a chat with the Submission Radio. The 41-year-old took on Whittaker at UFC 170 and lost the fight via knockout in the first round. He shared his experience with the host and said, “I think that’s a very tough fight for Khamzat. Khamzat is gonna have to keep him down and hold him down in order to win”.

The former champion is one of those rare fighters in the 185-pound division who has a mix of everything. Not only does he have good striking, but has equally good takedown defense, which will make him a threat to Borz. While wrestling has always been Chimaev’s biggest strength, he once struggled against Gilbert Burns at UFC 273. Only if Whittaker is able to do the same ‘Borz’ might just be in trouble, feels Thompson.

He said, “You go back and watch the fight with Gilbert Burns he had a very hard time taking down and holding Gilbert Burns down. And that was when Gilbert Burns kind of made Khamzat look mortal you know. At that time before that fight he was like looking just unbelievable and unbeatable everywhere. But that was the fight that made him look mortal.” According to the UFC veteran, fans can witness a wrestling masterclass when these two collide at UFC 308 next. Indeed, the stakes are high for both.

Khamzat Chimaev has a professional record of 13-0 and a UFC record of 7-0. Whittaker is 17-5 in the UFC. A win over Khamzat definitely gives him an edge over other potential middleweight title contenders like Sean Strickland. Whittaker’s recent form has been fiery. Look at his first-round knockout win over Ikram Aliskerov in his last fight, where the latter stepped in as a last-minute replacement for Khamzat.

On the other hand, Chimaev’s win against a seasoned and well-rounded fighter like Whittaker would reiterate his dominance in the division that he has already been showing by defeating fighters like Kevin Holland and Gilbert Burns. So the temperature is rising and so are the verbal wars. In an interview by Riadhlevrai shared by Championship Rounds on X, Khamzat rated Rob an easy fight for him.

Whereas, Rob thinks, “I beat Chimaev, I’m fighting for the belt next. Like, that’s it. There’s no doubt in my mind about that. I just got to make sure that I put all the chips and I cross all the t’s, dot all the i’s, and get to Abu Dhabi top of my game.” Looking at their fight styles it is interesting to note that Rob is known for his success against the skills that make Khamzat a standout.

Chimaev, known for his wrestling prowess, can dominate opponents on the ground. His takedown accuracy is 65%, which speaks for his grappling efficiency. However, Whittaker has a track record of fighting and defeating elite grapplers like Yoel Romero and Ronaldo Souza. He lands significant strikes at a rate of 4.82 per minute.

Rob’s striking style is based on Karate techniques signified by quick footwork and precision strikes. This can be challenging for Khamzat, who relies significantly on his wrestling to control his opponents. Plus, Whittaker’s takedown defense is a staggering 84%, which makes it difficult for opponents to take him down and keep him there. One more factor is there.

Many experts feel a five-round fight holds a slight advantage for Whittaker as he is a much better-conditioned athlete between the two. Notably, this is Khamzat’s first scheduled 25-minute bout. Analysts like Michael Bisping think, Khamzat has to seal the deal early, or else he might land in trouble. In fact, Kamaru Usman also thinks along the same line: defend the beginning rounds and wreck in the last ones, after Khamzat gets tired. But seems like, amid all these, Khamzat holds some significant positive points.

Khamzat Chimaev has a massive advantage walking into the fight at UFC 308

After a series of health scares, Khamzat has made some significant changes in his training plan. He has returned to his old coach, under whom he learned to wrestle primarily focusing on recovery and avoiding over-training. In a candid conversation with Adam Zubarayev, he said, “The point is they now let me rest and recover properly. I used to go to the gym and train till I was done. But then I ended up in hospital. Like the last time when I was in hospital, three times in a row within three weeks. My immune system went down, I got sick.”

Previously, Khamzat had also revealed that legendary wrestling coach Salim Selbievich Nutsalkhanov is helping him with his training. If that was not enough, Salim’s star student Buvaisar Saitiev, a 3x Olympic and 6x world champion, is also there in his team. Understandably, Khamzat wants to keep his grappling top-notch against Rob. However, there’s one more advantage walking into the fight for the Chechen.

The event will be taking place on October 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and will have a home-field advantage. The cast of ‘The Brendan Schmitty Show’, who made their debut appearance on Tim Welch‘s podcast, shared their opinion on the whole.

“I think that match is perfectly crafted for Khamzat. Just from everything they did with that matchup… What people don’t respect is that he’s going to get a home game vs Robert Whittaker. Robert Whittaker is going to have to come to [the] UAE where Khamzat does most of his training. Everything is sponsored by the UAE. He’s there all the time and Robert Whittaker has to come from across the world to his hometown and fight Khamzat,” said Schmitty’s confidant, Warlike. Another UFC fighter also favors Khamzat in the fight.

Caio Borralho (17-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC), who emerged as a top middleweight contender after defeating Jared Cannonier last month at UFC on ESPN 62 spent some time in Sweden with Khamzat, training with him. And after looking at Khamzat very closely, he believes that it is going to be “a very tough fight for Whittaker” because Khamzat “(out)-trains everyone in the room.” 

But Rob is also confident that he has now undergone two training camps for the same fighter and is at his best skill-wise. It would be interesting to watch how Khamzat’s grappling fares against Rob’s energy in the Octagon.