News Whittaker v Chimaev to headline UFC Saudia Arabia on June 22

[SalvadorAllende]

Great fight. Really excited to watch.

The other fights announced are awesome too. This will be a great event if all fight hold up.

 

[Bookerman]

So do the UFC keep Khamzat away from a title fight given that he clearly isn’t allowed into the States? How can you have a champion that does fight in the companys home country?

 

[Khaosan]

Bobby Knuckles is going to smesh this fraud.

 

[FrappeDuRocma]

Hobbit has 16 wins in the UFC and 11 from them are decisions. I’m afraid he will not get a decision win against Gourmet Chen Chen in Saudi Arabia. Whittaker needs a finish here.

Why he would not ? If he's the better fighter and wins more rounds (unless he gets 10-8ed), he will get the win...

 

[aogiri]

The wolf finishes him in first two. Cant get it out of my head that Whittaker got head and arm thrown by Dricus and then dominated on the ground. I also think Dricus has overrated grappling.

if he doesn't get the finish in first two Whittaker will take over. Five rounds makes it interesting.

 

[Kratos94]

Whittaker from 2018-2-21 handles Chimaev pretty easily, but he is old now and will get submitted

 

[blaseblase]

I just don't see how Whittaker can deal with the Chimaev grappling. MW is a barren wasteland in terms of grapplers and all he has in that area are wins over past-prime Jacare and Brunson, neither of whom are anything compared to Chimaev in offensive wrestling

Usman dealt with the grappling decently, but he's Usman, one of the best wrestlers in UFC history with a proven track record against grapplers like Burns, Leon 1, Colby, etc. Whittaker has the advantage of being a true MW and not on short notice, but that's it

I get the Khamzat overrated sentiment but he's an elite grappler about to fight in a division with no grapplers, so I think rather than getting exposed he's going to do the exposing

Not everyone seems to be aware of Rob's background in freestyle wrestling. He doesn't tend to use it but it's there. He won the national championship in Australia and was going to represent his country in the Commonwealth Games but had to pull out due to his UFC obligations.

 

[CC27]

Thats a big one and a legit one, if Khamzat wins that then he deserves a title shot. If this goes past two rounds I think Khamzat is in trouble.

Love that its on ABC too.

Do wish they put Umar/Sandhagen as the co main event but guessing they headline a card with that or use it on international fight weeks PPV.

 

[Question]

Whittaker from 2018-2-21 handles Chimaev pretty easily, but he is old now and will get submitted

It's a possibility for sure
Also why on that date exactly? Just curious

 

[HP_Nut]

Will be difficult for even the most astute haters to deny Khazmat after he butchers Whittaker with ease. I'm sure a few will find a way though.

View attachment 1036704

The times when he's faced elite fighters, Khamzat has not butchered them with ease. Khamzat was still a huge favourite over Burns, like -550, & over Usman too, like -275. The Whittaker fight is the 1st time during his UFC run where he won't be a huge favourite, he's still the favourite but not overwhelmingly. Khamzat butchers non-elite fighters, & he probably is legit 1 of the best but I would be surprised if he beats Rob easily

 

[Herwald]

So do the UFC keep Khamzat away from a title fight given that he clearly isn’t allowed into the States? How can you have a champion that does fight in the companys home country?

All of Islam's title fights have been outside the US, for example. So it can be done.

 

[brakkkop]

if the crouch sniffing not working in the 1st for khamzat then its the end for him.

 

[PattyBates]

if the crouch sniffing not working in the 1st for khamzat then its the end for him.

 

[chinarice]

if the crouch sniffing not working in the 1st for khamzat then its the end for him.

You out here pretending Robert Whittaker hasn't been a point fighter for years? His last finish was Jacare.....7 years ago.

If he can't get to a comfortable point fighting pace, it's the end for him.

 

[brakkkop]

You out here pretending Robert Whittaker hasn't been a point fighter for years? His last finish was Jacare.....7 years ago.

If he can't get to a comfortable point fighting pace, it's the end for him.

khamzat stand up game is not on robs level, and his gastank is gone after round 1.

 

[TheGreenMachine]

Uneccessary title shot?

Whittaker would have beaten Costa & Khamzat.

Meanwhile, Izzy has been jerking off to anime. Strickland has been Nitro racing while trying not to kill civilians. And douche is holding out to fight in Africa.

Costa's last win was against Luke Rockhold. And beating an unranked Khamzat at MW doesn't exactly scream titleshot. Especially since DDP just TKO'd Whittaker last year.

 

[chinarice]

khamzat stand up game is not on robs level, and his gastank is gone after round 1.

Yeah neither was Dricus', how did that work out for Rob?

 

[TheGreenMachine]

You out here pretending Robert Whittaker hasn't been a point fighter for years? His last finish was Jacare.....7 years ago.

If he can't get to a comfortable point fighting pace, it's the end for him.

Yea, Rob probably lacks the power that Burns and Usman did to KO/TKO Khamzat, so I don't think he will be as big of a threat on the feet as people think. Rob will probably need to win a 5 round decision to beat Khamzat. As long as Khamzat uses his wrestling, I think he can beat Whittaker fairly easily on the ground. But if it stays standing, its probably going to be a split decision for one of them.

 

[usernamee]

Chimaev haters: Khamzat sucks, only beat GM3 at MW, barely scraped by LW Burns etc etc

Also Chimaev haters: Because Rob is out of his prime now Chimaev will smash him easily, this is a set up fight


How can Chimaev be so bad but at the same time be good enough to crush Whittaker inside 1 round?

 

[Private Whatley]

Really interested to see if Khamzat can impose his wrestling early. Whitaker is a fantastic defensive wrestler who hung with Romero in the grappling. In terms of pure wrestling credentials, Yoel is galaxies beyond Khamzat but his style is predicated on trips, chains, reversals, throws and clinches. He’s not a shooter. Chimaev poses a different type of wrestling threat. Whitaker has also dispatched Jacare who is galaxies beyond Chimaev in the submission grappling realm but again, different styles.

What we absolutely do know is that Whitaker can easily go five rounds at a consistent pace. From what we’ve seen, Khamzat might be a Chechnyan Conor insofar as he’s incrementally less threatening past the first round. The consensus with his last performance was that Usman likely would have won over five rounds and he was fighting up in weight on ten days notice. Whitaker is a longtime MW who is battle tested over 5 rounds with ample time to prepare and condition himself. The odds should be razor close.