Max Holloway thinks Khamzat Chimaev’s undefeated run will come to an finish in Abu Dhabi.
Earlier than ‘Blessed’ steps into the primary occasion highlight at UFC 308 this Saturday night time at Etihad Enviornment, followers will see Chimaev return to the Octagon for the primary time in a 12 months when he meets former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a combat 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 way in which. Even in case you watch the Kamaru Usman combat in opposition to 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 arms, push his head to the bottom and never wrestle again’…management, hand combating and get away, push him off, he truly received away…
“So among the best guys that may hand combat and might wrestle, is Robert Whittaker, simply because his putting 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 appears 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 occasions, incomes wins in opposition to Li Jingliang, Gilbert Burns, Kevin Holland, and Kamaru Usman
In the meantime, Whittaker has competed six occasions throughout that very same run, going 4-2 within the course of. Initially, ‘The Reaper’ was set to combat Chimaev at UFC Saudi Arabia in June, however ‘Borz’ bowed out of the bout with lower than two weeks to go till combat night time. As an alternative, Whittaker went on to attain a first-round knockout in opposition to Ikram Aliskerov.
Whittaker hopes that matched with an enormous displaying in opposition to Chimaev will earn him a rematch with reigning middleweight titleholder Dricus Du Plessis.
