Robert Whittaker has opened up about his fight against Khamzat Chimaev. Whittaker entered the octagon for the third time in 2024 when he suffered a first-round submission loss to Chimaev at UFC 308.
Chimaev was able to utilize his wrestling to finish Whittaker in the very first round itself. Interestingly, this marked his first time failing to get out of the opening round since UFC 170 in February 2014.
Recently, he weighed in on the bout, showering his opponent with praise for his wrestling skills.
"Within seconds of the fight starting, I felt real comfortable standing with him. Like, real comfortable, but then the dude drops to like a millimeter - how do you stop that takedown, guy? And understandably, it's like, we did a lot of wrestling, we did a lot of stuff, we did a lot of wall work.”
He added:
"But mate, it's so hard to replicate that sort of takedown, that sort of commitment. And you know, props to him. The guy knows his strengths and played into them to a T and is willing to burn it all there for it."
Catch his comments in the clip below:
Robert Whittaker praises Khamzat Chimaev’s wrestling skills:
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 26, 2024
“Within a second of the fight starting, I felt REAL comfortable standing with him…
But then the dude drops… how do you stop that takedown?” 😭
🎥 @MMArcadePodcast #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/JgqeR1CrP0
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