Media Whittaker unsure of money bout with Chimaev, hopes to get title shot by beating Strickland

[HeffDoesWant]

Strickland is the only top 5 guy he hasn't fought.

Wanting the numbrr 1 ranked contender over the 11th doesn't feel much like ducking, but the reverse sure would.

 

[Mike]

He literally acknowledged this, genius. What do you think he meant by 'clout'?

He just thinks the Strickland fight does more for him. And he is right.

There's no need to be rude

 

[Objectively Correct]

Gourmet Chen Chen should try to beat any of these middleweights before he and his fanboys even dream about fighting someone in the top 3.
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Thb, I don’t see him beating any of these.

I like Khamzat and I am 100 % sure he'll handily beat every single name on that list but "Gourmet Chen Chen" is so hilarious it always gets a hearty kek out of me lmao. Costa is goated.

 

[roganisonly5foot3]

I was hoping he would retire soon. All rob does is turn out boring decisions against normally exciting fighters and put them down the rankings while keeping himself up too so he can have another boring decision against the next guy.

 

[cade187]

Bobby KNOWS fighting any non-ranked guys ( in the division Khamzat has STILL not fought in ) does nothing at all for him, no reason to consider that.

Khamzat is 3-0 at MW. His #11 ranking seems petty too. There are at least 3 guys ahead of him that he should be ranked above. An honest ranking at MW would be around 7-8.

I’m sure not wanting to fight him has nothing to do with how good he is.

 

[HolmeZy55]

I was hoping he would retire soon. All rob does is turn out boring decisions against normally exciting fighters and put them down the rankings while keeping himself up too so he can have another boring decision against the next guy.

Did you even watch his last fight, Rob vs Costa was a fucking banger.

And why TF would he retire? Still one of the best MW's in the world. Go back to sleep dude.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

He's still undefeated and everyone knows he starts strong early then gasses but nobody can do anything about it. He threw Usman around last time out, I'm sure Rob saw footage of that and was concerned lol.

Usman is also smaller and a career WW. Everyone Khamzat has thrown around has been smaller than him. Myself and I'm surely others would really like to see if Khamzat can do the same with someone his size.

 

[orca]

Why do all you shertards think that Khazmat should be anywhere close to a title shot at MW? Khazmat shouldn't be fighting any top 10 MW at all. Dude should get a win vs an actual MW and then fight at top 15 guy to earn it. Curtis is #14 at MW and he would smoke Khazmat like Nate Diaz on a blunt.

bro you sound like your scared to let khamzat fight a top fighter at mw
are you scared that hes gonna win
hehe just sayin
just let him fight

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Khamzat is 3-0 at MW. His #11 ranking seems petty too. There are at least 3 guys ahead of him that he should be ranked above. An honest ranking at MW would be around 7-8.

I’m sure not wanting to fight him has nothing to do with how good he is.

His number 11 ranking is generous. He hasn't even beaten a top 20 MW. Everyone ranked ahead of him has top 10 or top 15 wins at MW, Khamzat doesn't.

 

[cade187]

His number 11 ranking is generous. He hasn't even beaten a top 20 MW. Everyone ranked ahead of him has top 10 or top 15 wins at MW, Khamzat doesn't.

Hermansson is a 50/50 fighter since 2019, and loses to every skilled fighter who isn't 40.
Dolidze's best win is Hermansson, and is on a 2 fight losing streak.
Imavov's best win is Dolidze. His record is otherwise not noteworthy.
Costa is 1-3 in the past 4+ years, and his sole win was against old man Rockhold. His record was great before that though.

You can't objectively tell me Hermansson, Dolidze, and Imavov should be ranked higher than Khamzat. Beating Usman at MW is a better win than any of those guys have. If you want to put Costa above him, I don't have any issue with it, but there is definitely an argument for Khamzat being above Costa.

 

[DoctorStoppage]

Can’t think of a more boring fight than Strickland/Whittaker. Two point fighters with zero chance of a finish

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Hermansson is a 50/50 fighter since 2019, and loses to every skilled fighter who isn't 40.
Dolidze's best win is Hermansson, and is on a 2 fight losing streak.
Imavov's best win is Dolidze. His record is otherwise not noteworthy.
Costa is 1-3 in the past 4+ years, and his sole win was against old man Rockhold. His record was great before that though.

You can't objectively tell me Hermansson, Dolidze, and Imavov should be ranked higher than Khamzat. Beating Usman at MW is a better win than any of those guys have. If you want to put Costa above him, I don't have any issue with it, but there is definitely an argument for Khamzat being above Costa.

So you want to rank him based on what you think he can do rather than what he has done? Most people don't do rankings based on hypothetical fights that haven't happened.

Yes I can objectively say they should be ranked higher cause they have ranked wins at MW not imaginary wins.

 

[cade187]

So you want to rank him based on what you think he can do rather than what he has done? Most people don't do rankings based on hypothetical fights that haven't happened.

Yes I can objectively say they should be ranked higher cause they have ranked wins at MW not imaginary wins.

They also have losses. Several losses. Are you just ignoring those? Meerschaert is problably Hermansson's third best win. John Phillips is admittedly a weak win, but it's still a win in the division, and like it or not, Usman is a win for Khamzat in the division, and it's better than any win either of those three guys have. I'm not ranking him higher based on skill. I'm ranking him higher based on what he's done in the division. If you just decide to ignore their losses in the division, then yes, they'd be higher than Khamzat, but losses count too.

 

[blaseblase]

It sure is interesting how ranked mws want nothing to do with fighting this guy that's supposed to be an easy win. Even though he has huge hype and beating him would be a big deal.

Didn't Cannonier call him out?

 

[blaseblase]

He's still undefeated and everyone knows he starts strong early then gasses but nobody can do anything about it. He threw Usman around last time out, I'm sure Rob saw footage of that and was concerned lol.

Khamzat has fought 2 ranked fighters from a lower weight class and arguably lost both fights. He's a non-factor until he fights a top 10 middleweight. Rob's looking for a fight that gets him back to the title.

 

[blaseblase]

Hermansson is a 50/50 fighter since 2019, and loses to every skilled fighter who isn't 40.
Dolidze's best win is Hermansson, and is on a 2 fight losing streak.
Imavov's best win is Dolidze. His record is otherwise not noteworthy.
Costa is 1-3 in the past 4+ years, and his sole win was against old man Rockhold. His record was great before that though.

You can't objectively tell me Hermansson, Dolidze, and Imavov should be ranked higher than Khamzat. Beating Usman at MW is a better win than any of those guys have. If you want to put Costa above him, I don't have any issue with it, but there is definitely an argument for Khamzat being above Costa.

Hermansson has been around for years and has a bunch of ranked wins at middleweight. Just having a shiny undefeated record doesn't mean a fighter gets to be ranked above him when they haven't accomplished anything in the division.

 

[chiefwiggum]

Whittaker is absolutely in a number 1 contenders fight next.

He’s 2-2 his last 4and got blown out vs the champ recently. 1 fight win streak.
No way he would get a shot if it’s Ddp or if adasanya somehow gets the belt

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

They also have losses. Several losses. Are you just ignoring those? Meerschaert is problably Hermansson's third best win. John Phillips is admittedly a weak win, but it's still a win in the division, and like it or not, Usman is a win for Khamzat in the division, and it's better than any win either of those three guys have. I'm not ranking him higher based on skill. I'm ranking him higher based on what he's done in the division. If you just decide to ignore their losses in the division, then yes, they'd be higher than Khamzat, but losses count too.

No I'm not ignoring losses, but you obviously rank fighters based on fights that didn't even happen and IMO that's not a good way to do rankings whatsoever. Everyone ranked over Khamzat has ranked wins at MW, hell some people ranked after him have top 15 wins too.

I can't get behind ranking someone based on things that haven't happened. Rankings should be based on results of fights not imaginary fights. Khamzat is lucky to be ranked 11th without having a single top 20 win at MW.

 

[chinarice]

Khamzat has fought 2 ranked fighters from a lower weight class and arguably lost both fights. He's a non-factor until he fights a top 10 middleweight. Rob's looking for a fight that gets him back to the title.

Much easier to argue he won both fights as he did officially and overwhelmingly on both fight's media scorecards.

Factually Rob's 2nd win over Romero is more debatable for Yoel than either Khamzat fight is for Gilbert or Usman.

 

[NoSmilez]

It's time for them to fight. The only other fight is Khamzat but he doesn't fight outside of the UAE.