UFC fighter, Khamzat Chimaev was interviewed by Red Corner MMA. The seven-minute video featuring Chimaev is on Youtube. When asked about his next opponent Khamzat replied "I think I will fight Robert Whittaker. I want this fight. I like him as a human being, he's a solid guy, doesn't trash talk, doesn't cross any lines. We are going to have fun at the press conference and fight each other." If this is true, this is very exciting news. Robert Whittaker was originally scheduled to fight this weekend in front of his home country in Perth against Paulo Costa, but the contract never got signed by Costa. Khamzat hasn't fought since his weight debacle at UFC 279 when weighed in nearly ten pounds overweight. If you don't remember the UFC had to switch up the entire card and instead of getting a win against Nate Diaz, Chimaev squashed Kevin Holland.
Since Khamzat missed weight there has been speculation of a jump up to Middleweight. Chimaev has claimed that he wants to be both the Welterweight and Middleweight Champion. He is already the third-ranked Welterweight, but he clearly struggles to make 170 pounds. A win against Robert Whittaker, the second-ranked Middleweight, would skyrocket Chimaev to the top of the Middleweight rankings. Usually, it is hard to transition into a new division and get a good opponent because top-ranked fighters don't want to risk their rank against unranked opponents. On the contrary, they don't call Whittaker "Bobby Knuckles" for no reason. Bobby Knuckles is down to get down and fight anyone. If there haven't been contracts signed yet, when Whittaker is offered Khamzat, I imagine he'll welcome him into the Middleweight division.
The UFC has been breaking their own news in 2023 via Dana White going live across all social media platforms. He did it to announce the epic card for UFC 287, he did it again this weekend to announce McGregor vs Chandler for TUF. I won't be surprised if he does it again to announce UFC 288 in May, the Men's Bantamweight Title fight, Oliviera vs Dariush, and Chimaev vs Whittaker. Heard it here first. He's been so busy with announcements, that must be why he forgot Islam Makhachev's name at the press conference for Fight Night on Saturday. Regardless, Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev is a really exciting fight and hopefully, there is truth to Khamzat's statement.
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