Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev rescheduled for UFC 308
It’s been just over a month since mixed martial arts superstar and no. 11 ranked middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev (13-0) withdrew from his UFC on ABC 6 clash against no. 3 ranked former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker (26-7).
The two were expected to headline the first ever Saudi Arabia UFC event opposing one another until Chimaev was forced from the bout with an illness.
Whittaker instead headlined the event against Ikram Aliskerov, a former foe of Chimaev, knocking him out just under two minutes into the opening round; Chimaev also defeated Aliskerov at Brave CF 23 back in April of 2019, knocking him out at 2:26 of round one, those being the only two defeats of the Russian’s 17-fight career.
Now it appears Chimaev is back to full health and is again expected to face Whittaker with the bout being rescheduled for UFC 308.
UFC 308 is to go down on October 26, 2024, live from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Whittaker’s victory over Aliskerov was his second straight since losing to current UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis (TKO) at UFC 290 last July, the other coming over former title challenger Paulo Costa (UD) earlier this year in February at UFC 298.
Chimaev on the other hand has been one of the fastest growing stars in the history of our beloved sport, though that steam has certainly dissipated over the last couple years as a result of several cancelled match ups due to health issues suffered by the Chechnyan.
Since making his UFC debut back in July of 2020, going 3-0 with three finishes across two divisions inside of just 66 days’ time, Chimaev wouldn’t fight again for another 13 months, and has fought just four times since.
Chimaev returned at UFC 267 in October of 2021 to defeat Li Jingliang (rear naked choke) and would go on to fight twice more within the next 11 months, defeating former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns (UD) and Kevin Holland (D’Arce choke) following.
Since then, however he’s had just one fight in the past two years, a victory over former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (MD) last October at UFC 294.
Now Chimaev gears up to take on Whittaker in a three, not five, round affair this fall at UFC 308.
Who wins this middleweight encounter going down at UFC 308?
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