Robert Whittaker has a clear message for anyone wondering how Sean Strickland might fare against Khamzat Chimaev: don't hold your breath.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's UFC 328 main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., the former middleweight champion offered a brutally honest assessment of the title fight. Chimaev, the undefeated phenom with a 15-0 record, will make his first title defense against Strickland, who brings a 30-7 mark to the cage.
Whittaker knows exactly what it's like to be on the receiving end of Chimaev's relentless grappling. He was quickly submitted in their fight at UFC 308, an experience that left him with no doubts about how this one plays out.
"We want to see if Strickland has what it takes," Whittaker told UFC on Paramount+. "All the things he's talking, he talks a big game. He almost convinces me that he could do it. But having been in there with Chimaev, having seen what Chimaev can do, once he gets his hands on him – and he will."
Whittaker broke down what makes Chimaev so dangerous, even for a fighter who knows exactly what's coming. "Because he shoots from so far away, and he commits wholeheartedly, and he will get you to the mat. It's what happens after. Seeing that he has the cardio to be able to do that for five rounds as well, mate. Gun to my head, Chimaev is going to run him over."
The key, according to Whittaker, isn't just Chimaev's physical gifts – it's his ability to adapt and control. "All the preparation we did, he was just better than the preparation. His ability to stick to you, control the positions, to just move into another position once he's got his hands on you was just next level."
Whittaker points to Chimaev's fight against Dricus Du Plessis as further proof. "Dricus is a hard guy to hold down. He's a big, strong man, and the way he handled him and extended his cardio over five rounds, and just kept making those adjustments, efficiently making those adjustments so he didn't gas himself early."
The verdict? "We prepped as well as anybody else can, and I'm sure Dricus prepped as well as anybody else could. It's just his level is to be respected."