The UFC 2024 'Submission of the Year' eventually went to lightweight champion Islam Makhakev for his fourth round finish by Dustin Poirier-But just.
Of all the excellent entries we saw in 2024, no one was brutal than the bone bone bone victory of Khamzat Chimaev on 'The Reaper' at UFC 308.
Three months after that particularly painful loss, Robert Whittaker has now opened about what shocked him most about his fight with 'Borz' – and surprisingly, it is not the submission itself.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Robert Whittaker reveals what the most vs. Khamzat Chimaev surprised
Robert 'The Reaper' Whittaker is not only one of the best middle weights in the world, but he is also one of the best analysts with the skills to break down all aspects of his fighting; Good or bad.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani, the popular Australian revealed the most surprising aspect of the game of Khamzat Chimaev, which regards the former champion as his agility in securing Takedowns.
“It was the Takedown, just like the wall strenon and everything else was only a part of the package, you know, I was caught with that face-cank, but that is only part of the jokes and the wall grapping.
“But he was sticky … he was really, really good in the intestines, the dragging downs and just hold that position. We knew this, we trained for this and I was vodden most of the camp, so I felt comfortable there. “
While Chimaev is undoubtedly the best wrestler in the middleweight division, Whittaker is not slow; Admitting that he thought he would get more time to escape the face crank, which was locked up with less than 90 seconds in the round.
“Being caught with the Face Crack, that did not expect that I had more time, did not. But it was the first Takedown that surprised me the most because the man shot two meters away and to be honest, a foot was off the ground.
“It was just hard to defend, the only thing I can think of afterwards is more lateral movement, because once you reach the fence, it reaches to your ankles to use that struggle crossing in the wall … That first Takedown is Hard to stop, like real, very difficult to stop. '
Robert Whittaker shoots Daniel Cormier for leaking injury photo
As soon as that fight ended, fans started speculating why 'The Reaper' tapped so quickly; With Daniel Cormier, a photo of the broken jaw of Whittaker shares on the official UFC 308 broadcast.
That decision was convicted by Whittaker and admitted that he was “super irritated” by Cormier who shares the image with the entire MMA world.
“I was super irritated because it was so scummy to do. The doctor took a picture of my mouth and said: 'I'm just going to show Dana [White] So that he knows what's going on. '
“I had something like:” Cool, do that. ” And then DC took a picture of the other man to post everywhere in socials, it is as if … isn't that scummy? “
In recent months, Whittaker has recovered from that Grizzly injury and recently noticed that he trained with Israel Adesanya in February for StyLender's fight.
The Australian revealed in conversation with his former rival that he “will probably only jump back in June.”
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