Khamzat Chimaev has been told former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker would be a "fascinating" opponent for his switch to the weight class.
Chimaev, 28, recently announced he will move up to 185lb for his next fight after missing weight by 7.5lb for his welterweight fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 279 earlier this month. 'Borz' was moved to fight Kevin Holland in a catchweight fight at the event, submitting the American in just over two minutes without absorbing a single strike.
MMA analyst Chael Sonnen has suggested Whittaker as a potential opponent for Chimaev, stating on his YouTube channel: "Whittaker versus Chimaev is a very interesting match. Whittaker does not get his credit, I know that you guys think he's great, I know that he's ranked number one, I understand those things, but he's better than that. He's a top-five to have ever done it, for sure in his weight class. His takedown defence is as good as anyone I've seen.
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"Robert Whittaker has as good of anti-wrestling and as good a defence as I've ever seen and that's a big deal if you're gonna be in there with Chimaev. One of Chimaev's great weapons before he sets them up is to set up the position and he does it with the takedown, the same one that everyone knows is coming but they still can't stop it."
Chimaev has shifted between welterweight and middleweight during his fighting career, knocking out Gerald Meerschaert once at 185lb in the UFC. The Chechen admitted he wouldn't want to fight Whittaker following his recent win over Holland as he likes the former champion, stating he would rather train with him instead.
“I like that guy, so I don’t want to fight good guys," Chimaev said. "I want to train with that guy. He’s really good, like one of the best guys in the world. I was watching his fight. … I’m a big fan, so I watch all things. I watch how he trains, and all these things. A lot of guys want to fight me, so Robert never said something bad about me."
Whittaker got back in the winning column after his loss to Israel Adesanya in February by outclassing Marvin Vettori at UFC Paris earlier this month. Sonnen added of the potential fight: "I shouldn't digress and go too far down that road because these two have gone chummy. These two decided to hit it off and they're going to work out together so we can't really go down that road, we can't make that match."
