Robert
Whittaker recently gave due credit to former foe Khamzat
Chimaev’s wrestling.
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Whittaker faced Chimaev in potential middleweight title eliminator
at UFC 308
on Oct. 26. Chimaev wasted no time in taking Whittaker down before
sinking in a face crank that injured the former champion’s jaw,
forcing a stoppage in the opening frame.
Whittaker was immensely impressed by Chimaev’s takedowns. While
“Bobby Knuckles” felt comfortable for a while on the feet, there
was no getting away once Chimaev committed to the takedown. Despite
having worked on his wrestling a lot in training camp, Whittaker
couldn’t find anyone to replicate the Chechen-born Swede. Whittaker
further noted that it isn’t Chimaev’s strength, but his chain
wrestling that is most difficult to defend.
“I felt real comfortable standing with him,’ Whittaker recently
said on the MMA Arcade podcast. “Then, the dude drops like a
millimeter — how do you stop that takedown?… We did a lot of
wrestling, we did a lot of stuff, we did a lot of wall work, but
it’s so hard to replicate that sort of takedown, that sort of
commitment. And props to him. Guy knows his strength and played
into them to a tee, and is willing to burn it all there for it.
“He has a really heavy sag. He is not ridiculously strong or
anything like that. But he had a really heavy sag. And he was
really good at making me work. Like he was really good at making
sure he was active. He was always reaching for underhooks, reaching
for ankle picks, trying to get a hook in.”
Whittaker recently
underwent oral surgery as a result of the submission and is
targeting June for his return to the Octagon.