Khamzat Chimaev has gone from being one of the biggest, most hyped fighters in the promotion a year ago to being termed over-hyped today. His last sojourn in the octagon, a controversial majority decision to Kamaru Usman went a long way, as has his recent inactivity. However, what has seemingly been the last nail in the coffin seems to be his pulling out of his main event bout with Robert Whittaker on the UFC’s first Saudi Arabia card.

And ‘Borz’ seems determined to right this wrong and change his public perception. After Whittaker’s fantastic first-round KO victory over his replacement, Ikram Aliskerov, the Chechen took to Instagram, congratulating the former champ, but vowing that they will meet in the octagon in the near future. “Congrats [Robert Whittaker] we are not done yet!” Chimaev wrote. Whittaker, however, is having none of it.

Whittaker, fresh off his first knockout since 2017, is in no mood for Chimaev’s callout and urged the latter to hold off on his call-outs and let him enjoy his victory. His win over Aliskerov, of course, is the first knockout victory ‘The Reaper’ has scored since his Fight Night clash against Jacare Souza seven years ago. And Whittaker wants to savor the moment for the time being before he gets back to thinking about fighting again. However, the Kiwi did clarify that he is looking to ‘settle the scores’ with ‘Borz’. Just not today.

“Don’t jump me as soon as I finish a fight. I don’t want people to do that – I say that, but I probably did that once or twice as well. Let me have this one for a little bit, all right? we can settle the score another day,” Whittaker told reporters at the post-fight press conference in response to Chimaev.

And the list of people Whittaker is looking to settle the scores with isn’t limited to the Emirati citizen.

Robert Whittaker aiming for Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya’s rematch

Robert Whittaker’s last UFC fight was a disappointing one. He faced Dricsu Du Plessis in the co-main event of UFC 290, suffering a humiliating second-round knockout loss to the South African. However, with his latest victory and fresh winds in his sails, the Kiwi is feeling good and fancies his chances should he face ‘DDP’ again, even as he acknowledged that ‘Stillknocks’ was the better fighter that night.

“Since that fight [with Du Plessis], I’ve only improved. I’m not saying if I was on I would’ve beaten him… But I know I can do better… and I want to run it back because of that,” he said.

In addition, the Kiwi former champion is eager to face former champion Israel Adesanya, who took the title off of him at their UFC 243 clash three years ago, for a third time, declaring himself to be the best middleweight on the planet at the moment. “Adesanya is still on that list… I’m the most dangerous middleweight on the planet, and everyone knows that. But they are big shoes to fill,” ‘The Reaper’ added.

What are your thoughts on Whittaker’s response to Chimaev?