Michael Bisping claimed Khamzat Chimaev could struggle in a five-round fight against Robert Whittaker.
Since making his UFC debut in July 2020, Chimaev has established himself as one of the biggest MMA superstars on the planet. Now holding a promotional record of 7-0, ‘Borz’ looks to overcome arguably the toughest test of his fighting career when he faces Whittaker in the UFC Saudi Arabia main event on June 22.
Chimaev dominated his opponents in the Octagon before facing resistance against Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman. Therefore, the MMA community is intrigued to see if he can continue finding success in a championship-caliber matchup against a former UFC middleweight title holder.
During an episode of his podcast, Believe You Me, Michael Bisping had this to say about Chimaev vs Whittaker:
“Tremendous fight, make a lot of sense in the middleweight division. However, if I’m not mistaken, this will be the first five-round scheduled bout for Khamzat Chimaev…Automatically if you’re in the corner of Khamzat Chimaev, you gotta be concerned. One thing Robert Whittaker is not going to do is run out of gas. He’s a very very experienced fighter fighting at the highest level for a long time. Without getting into the Xs and Os, the obvious thing is Khamzat always gasses.”
Michael Bisping references Khamzat Chimaev’s last two wins while detailing cardio issues
In October 2023, Kamaru Usman made his UFC middleweight debut on short notice against Khamzat Chimaev to replace Paulo Costa. Chimaev secured a 10-8 first round and was awarded the second round on two scorecards. When it came to round three, Usman bounced back and took over, leading to a majority decision win for ‘Borz.’
During the previously mentioned podcast, Michael Bisping referenced Chimaev’s latest fight when talking about his alleged cardio issues:
“[Chimaev is] a tremendous force of nature. The way he takes people down, dominates them from the opening bell. He did the same thing against Kamaru Usman, granted he didn’t get the finish, but he definitely did slow down. Against Gilbert Burns, same thing. He had a great round one, two and three were kind of close. Five rounds against somebody like Robert Whittaker. If he can’t finish him early, that could be a disastrous night for him in Saudi Arabia.”
On February 17, Robert Whittaker defeated Paulo Costa by unanimous decision to silence the doubters from his loss against Dricus du Plessis. ‘The Reaper’ now looks to capitalize on Khamzat Chimaev’s hype to potentially leave the UFC Saudi Arabia main event with a middleweight title shot.
Watch Bisping’s entire podcast episode below:
