Few fighters garner the respect Robert Whittaker does and few athletes are as cool under pressure as the former middleweight champion.
Whittaker, affectionately known as “Bobby Knuckles” in the mixed martial arts community, is facing plenty of pressure as the underdog this week in Abu Dhabi as he prepares for a UFC 308 co-main event clash with feared, undefeated Khamzat Chimaev.
The pair were originally supposed to meet back in June in a Fight Night main event in Saudi Arabia, however, Chimaev fell ill during fight week and was replaced on mere days’ notice by Ikram Aliskerov who Whittaker finished early in Round 1.
Whittaker said Wednesday at the official UFC 308 media day that one reason he was able to transition from one opponent to another so seamlessly with no time to prepare for a different style is because he doesn’t focus his training camps solely around the fighter he’s scheduled to face next.
“We’re very flexible and open-ended with our training preparation,” Whittaker said. “I’ve been fortunate and blessed enough to have been able to be pretty active this year. This entire year has felt like (one big training camp).”
Saturday’s five-round title eliminator in the 185-pound division will be Whittaker’s third bout of 2024 and he’ll be looking to build on his two-fight winning streak.
The 33-year-old rebounded from a less-than-stellar effort in a stoppage loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290 last summer by beating Paulo Costa in February and earning a performance bonus for his highlight knockout of Aleskerov.
“I’ve prepared for the hardest fight of my life,” Whittaker said. “I’m ready to sprint for 25 minutes, and I’m coming for war.”
CHIMAEV’S CONFIDENCE HASN’T WANED
Although it has been more than a year since he last fought and he has pulled out of multiple fights in recent years, Chimaev has not lost any confidence, particularly when it comes to his dominant wrestling.
“Who did stop my takedowns? Nobody,” Chimaev said. “I don’t think this guy will be different. If Kamaru Usman, he’s a great champion, and he took down everyone, but I took him down, I dominated him in the rounds, easy. What’s going to be different with taekwondo or karate guy?”
Fans will find out Saturday whether Chimaev describing a former world champion like Whittaker simply as a “taekwondo or karate guy” will be an oversight. Chimaev averages 3.99 successful takedowns per 15 minutes at 46 per cent accuracy while Whittaker boasts solid 82 per cent takedown defence.
Chimaev also thinks his unbeaten mindset gives him an advantage over Whittaker.
“He knows how to lose, we don’t know, so I’m ready for victory,” Chimaev added.
TOPURIA GIVES HOLLOWAY A WARNING ABOUT HIS BOXING
Max Holloway has declared himself the best boxer in MMA on multiple occasions. He has done it before, after and even during some of his fights.
Holloway’s punching offence and defence will be put to the test when he faces reigning featherweight champion Ilia Topuria in Saturday’s main event.
Topuria said Wednesday he disagreed with Holloway’s self-assessment.
“Calling himself the best boxer in the UFC is kind of a shame, I think, because he’s not the best boxer in the UFC,” Topuria explained. “But he’s a good striker. He has a lot of experience, he’s very patient inside the Octagon, but everyone is good when they can develop a style in the Octagon and someone is not putting pressure on him.
“On Saturday night, he’s going to feel something he never felt with any other opponents that he had in the past. The pressure he’s going to feel with me, it’s going to be completely different.”
MURPHY THINKS WIN OVER IGE GETS HIM INTO TOP 10
Lerone Murphy is coming off a huge win over Edson Barboza in a Fight Night main event in May. That win gave the 14-0-1 Manchester, England native the confidence that he could go the distance at a high pace with a proven veteran. That confidence could bode well against Dan Ige on the UFC 308 main card.
Murphy couldn’t finish Barboza despite a dominant performance but aims to become the first fighter to finish Ige.
“it’s a big test for me and I believe, after a win over Dan Ige, it’s top 10 straight from there,” Murphy said.
Ige is 10-7 in the UFC but has won three of five and has given some of the best 145-pounders in the sport tough tests, such as Movsar Evloev, Josh Emmett, Calvin Kattar and, most recently, Diego Lopes when he stepped in to face the rising star at UFC 306 on only several hours’ notice.
PETROSYAN TALKS PAST SPARRING WITH ‘SHARA BULLET’
Opening up the main card is a middleweight bout between Armen Petrosyan and touted 14-0 striker Sharabutdin Magomedov, who is 3-0 in the UFC and has been a massive betting favourite in each outing. He opened at more than a two-to-one favourite against Petrosyan but those odds have tightened as the fight approaches.
Petrosyan also has a background in kickboxing and Muay Thai but had a sly smirk on his face when asked if he’d consider grappling Magomedov, who is not known for having a solid ground game. The two have sparred together at times over the years.
“Of course, this is MMA,” Petrosyan said through an interpreter. “We’re talking about standup fights, we’re talking about ground fights, we get prepared for both aspects.”
Petrosyan doesn’t have any submission wins to his name during his MMA career but added, “We know all of his weak parts and we know all of his good sides.”
ONE PRELIMINARY BOUT REMOVED FROM CARD
A bantamweight bout between Said Nurmagomedov and Daniel Santos was removed from the preliminary card, the UFC confirmed Wednesday.
Santos withdrew from the scheduled 135-pound contest earlier this week for undisclosed reasons and the organization was unable to find a short-notice replacement to take on the cousin of the former lightweight champion.
Nurmagomedov is 7-2 since joining the UFC 2018 but hasn’t fought since a submission win over Muin Gafurov one year ago, at UFC 294.
