Khamzat Chimaev is set to fight Robert Whittaker on UFC fight night on June 22nd. However, a new report suggests that the fight might be in trouble! The middleweight fighters are ready to lock arms against each other and are training hard for it. Chimaev was also seen training with Patrick Downey and this might be a little concerning with a potential threat of a staph infection looming over Chimaev. 

Taking to his official Instagram handle, Pat Downey recently gave an update that does not look too good. 

Khamzat Chimaev vs Robert Whittaker fight in trouble?

A recent YouTube video by The Scrap gave an update on the UFC fight night prep of the two fighters and also spoke about a third fighter Pat Downey who was seen training with Chimaev in his gym. The 1-1-0 fighter was seen training with Borz in the gym and they uploaded posts as well via social media. The NCAA division wrestler has now returned to the USA following his training camp with the middleweight fighter. However, Downey uploaded a concerning Instagram story showing an infection on his leg.

This is probably being suspected as a staph infection which takes at least 1  to 3 weeks to get cured. If Downey caught the infection before he returned to the USA, then it might be serious trouble for Chimaev. The voiceover said, “Now I am no doctor, but if that staph infection that’s gonna take anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks to fully clear and you have to think he got it from somewhere. And if he got it while he was training in Khamzat’s gym, then I am a little worried about the main event. Because even though the fight is four weeks from now. He’s gonna want these last three weeks to feel 100%.”

Staph infection generally happens from skin contact and a training area or gym is not an uncommon place to contract it. So if the infection happened after training in the gym then it is concerning because Chimaev is set to fight in less than a month and needs to be on his best form. Meanwhile, Robert Whittaker is preparing to defeat Chimaev.

Robert Whittaker’s game plan

In an interview with Fox Sports, ‘The Reaper’ declared his plan to defeat Chimaev. He revealed that he would be controlling the spacing and was ready to scramble and wrestle. He said, “You know, but yeah, I think controlling the space. Make sure you can’t freely shoot. And when he does shoot make sure I also scramble. Make sure he has to pay twice what he wants to for the takedown.”

‘Borz’ has his biggest strength in wrestling which he uses in his fights and if the 33-year-old wants to win this fight, then he has to use wrestling and not grappling. The fighter added that since it was a five-round fight the pacing would be different. He also added that ‘Borz’ is taller than him so he is going to come strong.

Whittaker is a veteran and a pro fighter with a lot of experience since he faced some of the best in the sport. He also has the skillset of giving 1-2 followed by a head kick which is something every fighter against him should watch out for. 

Who do you think is going to win? Do you think Chimaev will be in his best form before the fight given the latest concern? Drop your views in the comments below.