Max Holloway thinks Khamzat Chimaev’s undefeated run will come to an finish in Abu Dhabi.
Earlier than ‘Blessed’ steps into the principle occasion highlight at UFC 308 this Saturday evening at Etihad Area, followers will see Chimaev return to the Octagon for the primary time in a yr when he meets former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a battle that might produce the division’s subsequent title contender.
Showing on Demetrious Johnson’s podcast, Holloway provided his tackle the extremely anticipated conflict between ‘Borz’ and ‘The Reaper’ and who he sees popping out on high within the high-stakes scrap.
“I believe Robert Whittaker is a beast,” Holloway stated. “His IQ is excessive, he’s good…I’m rolling with Robert Whittaker all the best way. Even in the event you watch the Kamaru Usman battle towards Khamzat…when Kamaru wrestled again with him, that’s how Kamaru misplaced. When Kamaru determined to be like ‘I’m not going to wrestle this motherf***er, I’m going to 2 and 1 him with the palms, push his head to the bottom and never wrestle again’…management, hand combating and get away, push him off, he really obtained away…
“So top-of-the-line guys that may hand battle and might wrestle, is Robert Whittaker, simply because his hanging is so rattling good and that’s what he does,” Holloway continued. “It’s a five-rounder…we’ve seen Khamzat get drained in three rounds, he needs to be coaching for 5 rounds, everyone knows. But it surely’s nonetheless his first one. Robert’s been combating 5 rounds perpetually, that man is only a vet. A legend, an OG of the game. I believe if he goes on the market with that anti-wrestling mindset and doesn’t get held down an excessive amount of, I believe he can land one thing [big]” (h/t BJPenn.com).
Whittaker seems to snap Khamzat Chimaev’s streak
Whereas Khamzat Chimaev goes into UFC 308 with an ideal 13-0 report, his appearances contained in the Octagon have been few and much between. Since 2020, ‘Borz’ has solely competed 4 instances, incomes wins towards Li Jingliang, Gilbert Burns, Kevin Holland, and Kamaru Usman
In the meantime, Whittaker has competed six instances throughout that very same run, going 4-2 within the course of. Initially, ‘The Reaper’ was set to battle Chimaev at UFC Saudi Arabia in June, however ‘Borz’ bowed out of the bout with lower than two weeks to go till battle evening. As an alternative, Whittaker went on to attain a first-round knockout towards Ikram Aliskerov.
Whittaker hopes that matched with a giant exhibiting towards Chimaev will earn him a rematch with reigning middleweight titleholder Dricus Du Plessis.
