Whitaker's not a stupid fighter, and has been at the top of the MW division for a long time. He's been in enough big fights, and is well-grounded enough that I don't see him getting the jitters or nerves setting in. If Khamzat was looking for a fight, he found one.
This is the literally the biggest fight of Khamzat's career, and (in my opinion) the pressure is on the "rising" star to perform. Not sure how he will respond to that. Robert is a big step up from journeyman Holland and short-notice WW Usman. If there is one MW that is really going to test Chimaev physically, it's Whittaker. He is durable, has a good gas tank, his TDD is good and Whittaker is a decent wrestler himself.
The longer this fight goes, the more it favours Sir Knuckles. I am just glad it's a 5 round fight (if necessary).
If I have to pick a winner, I'm going with Robert getting the TKO in late round 3/early 4. Maybe Khamzat is for real, who knows for sure? But so far, it looks like we should get a settled-in-at-185lbs no-crazy-weight-cut healthy Chimaev (knock on mother-fucking wood). If this coming Saturday is not the best version of Chimaev we have seen so far, I doubt we ever will.
