Robert Whittaker vs Khamzat Chimaev title eliminator bout to headline UFC on ABC 6 on June 22
The Ultimate Fighting Championship goes to Saudi Arabia for the first time this summer with an epic event in store, UFC on ABC 6, which is to go down on June 22, 2024, live from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Aribia.
Headlining the event will be a middleweight title eliminator bout between no. 3 ranked former champion Robert Whittaker (25-7) and no. 11 ranked Khamzat Chimaev (13-0).
Whittaker has had a remarkable career thus far; following a 2-0 run on The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes he’d win his season in the finale, before defeating TUF 16 winner Colton Smith (TKO) in his next appearance. The Aussie would then drop two-straight defeats to TUF 13 winner Court McGee (SD) and future, now former two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson (TKO).
Whittaker had one more fight and win down at welterweight before moving up to 185 lbs, where he’d go on to win his next eight-straight with notable victories over Brad Tavares (KO), Uriah Hall (UD), Derek Brunson (TKO), Jacare Souza (TKO), and Yoel Romero twice (UD, SD).
He’d claim the interim middleweight title in his first bout with Romero, later being promoted to undisputed champion, before defending it in their rematch, though it was considered a non-title bout after Romero missed weight.
Whittaker would lose his title to Israel Adesanya (KO) next, before defeating the likes of Darren Till (UD), Jared Cannonier (UD), and Kelvin Gastelum (UD). This three-fight win streak awarded him another crack at Adesanya, where he’d lose the fight via unanimous decision, though many believed he did enough to reclaim the belt.
After securing a victory over Marvin Vettori (UD) in his next bout, Whittaker would lose to current UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis (TKO) immediately following, before rebounding with a win over Paulo Costa (UD) this February in an incredible back and forth affair.
Chimaev on the other hand, unlike Whittaker, is someone we’ve been waiting a long time to see fight the very best the UFC’s middleweight division had to offer.
The Chechnya native came to the UFC in 2020 with a record of just 6-0, going 3-0 in just over two months with wins over John Phillips (D’Arce choke), Rhys McKee (TKO), and Gerald Meerschaert (KO), bouncing back and forth from 170-to-185 lbs.
His next two bouts would take place at 170 lbs, where he submitted Li Jingliang (rear naked choke), before defeating Gilbert Burns (UD) in his next bout.
After missing weight for his scheduled bout with Nate Diaz, the UFC made a last-minute change and had him face Kevin Holland, who he ran straight through with another impressive first round finish (D’Arce choke).
That was in September of 2022, and he’s only fought once since, where he defeated former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (MD) in his return to the middleweight division this past October.
This will be a very telling fight to see whether Chimaev is ready for the very best at 185 lbs, and also to see how he does should the fight go past three rounds; he did get quite fatigued against Gilbert Burns, and also Kamaru Usman, the only two fights of his career that went the distance, and they were both three round fights.
UFC on ABC 6 fight card to date:
- Robert Whittaker (25-7) vs Khamzat Chimaev (13-0)
- Kelvin Gastelum (17-9) vs Daniel Rodriguez (17-4)
- Sergei Pavlovich (18-2) vs Alexander Volkov (37-10)
- Johnny Walker (21-8) vs Volkan Oezdemir (19-7)
- Sharabutdin Magomedov (12-0) vs Ihor Potieria (21-5)
- Nasrat Haqparast (16-5) vs Jared Gordon (20-6)
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