Abu Dhabi – Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker knows a new and more focused Khamzat Chimaev will meet him in the octagon at UFC 308 on Saturday night.
He’s just not that worried about it.
“I guess I’m not really focusing too much on him. I don’t think about him too much,” Whittaker told reporters on Wednesday.
“I get asked a lot of questions about Chimaev this, Chimaev that, I don’t think about him. He’s not on my mind very much.”
That may be a bit concerning for Whittaker (26-7) fans, but fear not. The former champ knows what he’s doing.
“I am expecting him to come out hard and aggressive from the first second to the last. I have prepared accordingly for that. I’ve prepared for the hardest fight of my life,” he said.
“To start extremely hard like sprinting for the first 5 to 10 minutes, but also drag it out. I’m ready to sprint for 25 minutes if so. I come here for war.”
Whittaker’s fights are never boring, and this one is unlikely to be a let down, as both men bring a high-pace to their fights. ‘The Reaper’, or ‘Bobby Knuckles’ as some fans have come to call him, has a plan for Chimaev and it involves tracking his opponent down.
“I look to go into this fight hunting him. Much like I planned to last fight. I look to do again this fight,” said Whittaker.
“I’m the hunter in this fight, I’m the predator, and I’m going to be looking for him.”
Robert Whittaker won’t be ‘The Reaper’ this weekend at #UFC308 against Khamzat Chimaev. This time around he will be ‘The Hunter.’ pic.twitter.com/tfsNbTbA0p
— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) October 24, 2024
Watch the entire media day scrum with Robert Whittaker above. He takes on Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 on Saturday.
