Robert Whittaker doesn’t appear to be buying into the mystique surrounding the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev as he’s revealed that he actually asked to fight him at UFC 308 in October after their original fight at UFC On ABC 6 in June fell through.
“Unfortunately, the business is not completely run on merit,” Whittaker said on his ‘MMArcade’ podcast “A lot of it is, but there’s a lot of times and moments when it’s just not. Chimaev is a hard fight. He’s obviously a big draw, especially over there in Abu Dhabi. He’s done the welterweight thing. He’s done the middleweight thing.
“So, he’s a draw, and I think the UFC, story-wise, wants to see Chimaev get a shot at the champion. They want to see Chimaev up the top of the ladder. They want to see him in that picture. But I love disrupting their plans. I love derailing their stories, and that’s why I took the fight. I asked for the fight. It wasn’t offered to me.”
“I saw that there was an Abu Dhabi card in October, timeline fits perfectly, and I was like, ‘I’ll fight Chimaev again,’” Whittaker continued. “Let’s do it again. Just make sure he turns up (laughs). I look forward to hard fights, I look forward to these fights, and I know that if I beat Chimaev there is nothing in my way to getting my belt back.”
Whittaker’s wish was granted and so the two will now go head-to-head in a five-round fight at UFC 308 on a card that will be headlined by a featherweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.
