Robert Whittaker was challenged by Khamzat Chimaev in what the latter referred to as a “good guy vs. bad guy” style of fight.
Robert, the former middleweight champion, has been absent from the UFC octagon for a considerable period. However, in his last fight, the 32-year-old secured a unanimous decision victory over Marvin Vettori. Thus keeping alive his aspirations of regaining the title that he once held.
In a video uploaded to his newly established YouTube channel, the ‘MMArcade Podcast’, ‘The Reaper’ addressed questions about the potential fight and made a revealing statement regarding the rumors surrounding it.
Previously, Chimaev had mentioned that he had been approached by the UFC matchmakers with multiple potential opponents. Interestingly, in addition to Colby Covington, ‘Borz’ had also expressed his willingness to fight against Whittaker.
When questioned about the comments made by the third-ranked welterweight, Robert Whittaker denied them. Asserting that he had never been offered the fight.
“I was never offered a fight with Chimaev and that’s that. That’s it, I haven’t been offered any fight,” he claimed.
Whittaker further elaborated that while he had been in touch with the UFC. No concrete decision had been made regarding his next move.
“Like I’ve been talking to the UFC and I’ve been asking like what’s up. And the communications has just been, ‘let’s wait and see what happens with this title shot’,” he said.
In his subsequent statement, Whittaker reiterated his stance on the rumors regarding the Chimaev fight, clearly refuting them.
“I have not received any sort of written contract saying do you want to fight Chimaev in XYZ that’s not something that has been presented to me,” Whittaker stated.
Khamzat Chimaev Vs Robert Whittaker: Set in Stone by UFC
Earlier, Whittaker had already debunked any news related to the fight. In a January interview with Fox Sports, the 32-year-old athlete clarified that he had not yet received any offer from the UFC.
Interestingly, Whittaker also stated that the UFC had a particular opponent in mind for him.
“UFC didn’t want to just give me any fight. They want me to fight someone specific in March, April.” he had stated.
Based on Whittaker’s statement in the interview. It seems that the UFC was waiting to see how things played out in the division before determining an opponent for him.
Given that he is currently one of the top middleweights in the world and a fan favorite. This could be a contributing factor to the matchmakers’ approach.
