Khabib Nurmagomedov celebrates following his UFC 223 victory. Photo from BBC.co.uk
Robert Whittaker believes Khabib Nurmagomedov won’t lose anytime soon
28 men have tried, 28 have failed. After Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Dustin Poirier at UFC 242, he improved to 28-0 and looked unstoppable in the process.
For middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker, he doesn’t believe the Russian will lose for a long time. He says his skill set is super impressive given everyone knows what he will do, but they can’t stop it. That of course, is the wrestling.
“I don’t see Khabib losing anytime soon,” Whittaker said on his Grange TV podcast. “I just can’t. He put work on Dustin (Poirier). Dustin is a great fighter. And, you know, every opponent that goes in there to fight Khabib knows what Khabib is going to do. They know. So I’m sure Dustin worked wrestling defense rigorously, like the entire camp.”
In the fight, Khabib Nurmagomedov kept on coming forward and going for takedowns and throwing strikes. He didn’t appear tired at all, and even escaped a tight guillotine choke.
Yet, for Robert Whittaker, the takedowns and escaping the choke was not the most impressive thing for the middleweight champ. Instead, it is the Russian’s chin.
“Khabib is something else,” Whittaker said. “His cardio, his subtle technique, his arm endurance, his stamina, and what blew me out of the water was his chin. He copped one of Dustin’s textbook left hands on the button of his chin.”
Of course, Khabib Nurmagomedov has taken some heavy shots from both Poirier and Conor McGregor in his past two fights. Yet, he kept on walking forward. For Whittaker, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s ability to take a heavy shot, his cardio, and wrestling is so impressive that no one will be able to beat him. So, the Aussie champ expects the Russian to reign supreme over the lightweight division for quite a long time. And, there is no reason to doubt Whittaker right now.
