Robert Whittaker interested in training with Khamzat Chimaev, wants to see him move to middleweight: “He handles a lot of the guys in the division”

Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is down to train with Khamzat Chimaev.

‘The Reaper’ is fresh off his fight with Marvin Vettori at UFC Paris earlier this month. In that outing, the former champion dominated the Italian fighter and won by decision. The victory was his fourth in his last fight octagon appearances.

The win was an important one in an everchanging middleweight division. The champion Israel Adesanya is set to face Alex Pereira in a title defense in November. Beyond that title fight, the division is currently at a standstill in regard to contenders.

However, last Saturday, it seems 185-pounds got a new contender. At UFC 279, Khamzat Chimaev defeated Kevin Holland by first-round submission. ‘Borz’ was first slated to face Nate Diaz at welterweight before missing weight.

Following the event, Dana White stated that the welterweight star would likely compete at 185-pounds moving forward. However, don’t expect Chimaev to face Whittaker at middleweight anytime soon. In the post-fight presser, the Chechen praised the former champion and asked to train with him.

It seems that Robert Whittaker is on board with that idea. The Australian discussed Khamzat Chimaev’s weight move in an interview with RJ Clifford and Din Thomas for Sirus XM. There, Whittaker stated he’d be down to train with the Chechen, and previewed potential matchups for him at middleweight.

“I heard what Khamzat said about wanting to fight bad guys and I can get behind that. If he wants to train together, I want to train together and we can go hunt bad guys together. I think it will be a lot of fun, and we can run a muck on a lot of people.” (h/t MMAFighting)

He continued, “It’s hard, but I think stylistically he handles a lot of the guys in the division. I would actually love to see Chimaev fight Pereira. I think that’s a great fight for him, and I think it will open the eyes to see what Pereira can do.”

Whittaker concluded, “I’d like to see Chimaev fight Israel, just because, stylistically, there are so many different variables in play that it makes it interesting for me. Plus, I’ll be able to sic my new friend Chimaev on two guys that I want to beat up.”

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