Robert
Whittaker is confident that he will be able to hold his own in
grappling exchanges against Khamzat
Chimaev.
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Whittaker will look to hand Chimaev his first career loss in the
main event at
UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22. While “Bobby Knuckles” admits that
his key to victory lies in keeping the fight on the feet, he isn’t
afraid of grappling with “Borz.”
“It’s about going out there and pushing my game plan onto him and
seeing how he adjusts to me. Because I bring an arsenal of skill
sets that he’s not ready for, I believe,“ Whittaker recently told
ESPN Australia. „And I think the shortest way
to victory is to go in there, obviously not play to his strengths,
which is not engaging in the wrestle, but not be afraid of it. I
can wrestle with the best of them, and I have shown and proved
that. So, I’m gonna go in there, I’m gonna fight my fight, I’m
gonna fight a stand-up fight, I’m gonna see where it goes, I’m
gonna drag it out. It’s a five-round fight. I have been in plenty
of those, and I’ve got no quit in me. So, let’s see how this
goes.”
While Chimaev essentially had his way on the ground with all of his
early
Ultimate Fighting Championship opponents, “Borz” was given a
run for his money against elite competition like Gilbert
Burns and Kamaru
Usman. Meanwhile, Whittaker, who boasts a takedown defense rate
of 82%, one of the highest in the division’s history, has proven
his mettle against elite grapplers in the past. “The Reaper” is
confident of handling Chimaev’s grappling as well.
“He’s definitely got a really sound jiu-jitsu game, but he mixes it
well with his wrestling,” said Whittaker. “And I think what a lot
of people aren’t ready for is the mixture of the two, the making it
really MMA-esque, like utilizing it up against the wall, utilizing
his strength with his long arms and tall frame to just push his
game plan on the fence, push it into the ground. And whilst I
definitely think he is very dangerous there, I have been grappling
my entire life. I’m very, very confident of my own skill sets. Even
if it were a pure wrestling, jiu-jitsu format, I would hold my own,
if not get a ‘W,’ in that way too.”
Whittaker is fresh off a unanimous decision victory over Paulo Costa
at
UFC 298 in February. Meanwhile, Chimaev hasn’t fought since a
majority decision win over Usman in his middleweight debut at
UFC 294 on October 2023.