Robert Whittakerthe coach hopes to be able to imitate some of the success Gilberto Burns had vs. Khamzat Chimaev.
Whittaker (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) will look to hand Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) the first loss of his career when they meet in the main event of UFC on ABC 6 on June 22 , at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Burns gave Chimaev arguably the toughest test of his career when they fought in a welterweight bout at UFC 273 in April 2022. Chimaev was defeated by Burns but ended up outlasting him in an all-out war.
Whittaker coach Alex Prates says they must match Chimaev’s pace from the start.
“The last two fights, especially ‘Durinho’, the Gilbert Burns fight, I need to thank him for the plan,” said Prates pastor dog. “I watched the fight so many times. I think he gave a very clear path to victory by starting strong, being very aggressive in guard, being very aggressive on the feet.
“In the fight with Kamaru Usman – and I’m sure Usman is thinking this right now – if he could go back and start the fight at a higher pace, he would. This is the mistake we don’t want to make at all. Let’s start strong. He starts 100%, we start 110%.
Whittaker is coming off an entertaining, back-and-forth win over Paulo Costa at UFC 298. If the former middleweight champion can drag Chimaev into deep water, his coach is confident he can finish.
“When it becomes a dogfight, I don’t see anyone beating Robert in this category – no one,” Prates said. “But if I was a betting man, which I’m not, third-round TKO, Robert Whittaker.”
For more information on the card, visit the MMA Junkie events hub to UFC on ABC 6.
