Robert Whittaker isn’t letting Khamzat Chimaev off the hook that easy.
In June, Whittaker was supposed to face Chimaev in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia; however, less than two weeks before the event, Chimaev withdrew from the bout after falling “violently ill.” Instead, Whittaker faced Ikram Aliskerov on short notice and scored a first-round knockout that many fans thought would move him past the Chimaev matchup.
But Whittaker is now set to face Chimaev on Oct. 26 in the co-main event of UFC 308, and speaking recently on his YouTube channel, he revealed why.
“Chimaev is a hard fight,” Whittaker said. “He’s obviously a big draw, especially over there in Abu Dhabi. He’s done the welterweight thing, he’s done the middleweight thing, so he’s a draw, and I think the UFC story-wise wants to see Chimaev get a shot at the champion. They want to see Chimaev up the top of the ladder. They want to see him in that picture, but I love disrupting their plans. I love derailing their stories, and that’s why I took the fight.
“I asked for the fight. It wasn’t offered to me. Straight after last fight, I saw that there was an Abu Dhabi card in October, timeline fits perfectly, and I was like, ‘I’ll fight Chimaev again. I’ll do it again, just make sure he turns up.’ Because I look forward to hard fights. I look forward to these fights, and I know that if I beat Chimaev, there is nothing in my way to getting my belt back.”
Whittaker is a former UFC middleweight champion but hasn’t tasted gold in several years. After losing his title to Israel Adesanya in 2019, Whittaker fought his way back to a rematch in 2022, but again fell short. He then lost a title eliminator bout against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290, but has since rebounded with wins over Paulo Costa and the aforementioned Aliskerov performance. And with a win over the very popular Chimaev, Whittaker believes that will be enough to get another crack at the title.
“Chimaev, as dangerous as he is, I don’t go into these fights thinking about what I have to lose,” Whittaker said. “Much like how I took the fight with Ikram, I don’t look at the fight and think, ‘Oh man, it’s too big of a risk.’ Every fight’s a risk! I only go into fight because I have the confidence I’m going to beat and smash whoever is in front of me, and that doesn’t change with Chimaev.
“So I’m going to get in there in October, I’m going to put the One-Two-How-Do-You-Do on him, and worry about a title shot after that.”
UFC 308 takes place at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena and is headlined by a featherweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.
