With UFC president Dana White saying Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) vs. Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) could serve as a co-main event to a potential trilogy bout between champion Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman, Whittaker thinks Chimaev would have his way with Covington.
Whittaker pointed to Covington’s two losses to ex-champ Kamaru Usman in which he was knocked down multiple times in what were predominantly kickboxing fights between two elite wrestlers.
“Stylistically, fight-wise, I think that’s a terrible fight for Colby,” Whittaker told Submission Radio. “Terrible. Because you saw with Usman that anyone Colby can’t just relentlessly spam takedowns on, it becomes a kickboxing fight and a striking match. And I think Covington’s great at what he does, but he’s not a kickboxer, he’s not a striker by trade. That doesn’t come naturally to him.
“His pressure style and wrestling style is what comes naturally to him. Khamzat can counter-wrestle Colby. He’s a big dude with long range and a lot of reach, and his striking is nothing ridiculously crazy, but it’s put together at a high level. And he integrates that with the threat of his wrestling and grappling takedowns stupendously. So, I think Khamzat for Colby is a bad matchup.”
When Chimaev was asked about a potential fight with Whittaker after his UFC 279 win over Kevin Holland, he said he’d rather train with him than fight him. And Whittaker is all for the idea.
“I don’t know him personally, like, his character or anything like that, but skill-wise and the skill sets he brings into the octagon when he fights, they’re very high caliber, high tier,” Whittaker said. “And I am a believer that iron sharpens iron. And if me and him got together and started working on our skillsets and mentalities, it’s a scary prospect, isn’t it?”
He continued, “I’m not gonna rule it out. There’s all possibility in the world at this point that I could one day get together with him and train.”
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