After getting his initial card rejected by the Saudi Authorities, Dana White decided to spice things up for his promotion’s first event in Saudi Arabia. The undefeated Khamzat Chimaev and former champion Robert Whittaker will headline the fight in the former’s second middleweight fight in a row. With that fight announced, one of ‘The Reaper’s former rivals recently made a revelation regarding the former middleweight champion, which serves as a warning for Chimaev.

Robert Whittaker is a vastly experienced fighter and, as mentioned earlier, a former UFC champion as well. However, in his last five fights, the Aussie ace had only won three, raising doubts regarding his status as a credible title contender. But those doubts could be put to bed after Whittaker’s former rival Kelvin Gastelum opened up on the experience he had fighting ‘The Reaper’, and it was not a pleasant one.

Kelvin Gastelum hails Robert Whittaker for his speed

Khamzat Chimaev has built a reputation for controlling and rag-dolling his opponents inside the Octagon. Holding a grown man and walking around the cage while dishing out trash talk, as he did with Li Jingliang, is certainly not as easy as it sounds. But Robert Whittaker has his strengths, too. Kelvin Gastelum revealed that when he fought the former champion, he made him feel as if he did not know how to fight. He said, “One guy that made me feel like I was nothing, was Robert Whittaker.”

The 32-year-old welterweight fighter also mentioned that he was unable to get in range to land his strikes on Robert Whittaker, who would edge past him due to his sheer speed. “He kicked my a** for five rounds… Whittaker [is] so fast, so fast.” Gastelum added. As Whittaker and Chimaev prepare for their fight, they will also be fighting for the number one contender’s spot.

Huge title implications on June 22

The fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker will determine the next title contender for the middleweight championship. Meanwhile, there have been reports that the UFC is discussing a potential title defense for Dricus du Plessis against Israel Adesanya. Hence, the winner of the UFC Saudi Arabia fight will go on to either face ‘Stillknocks’ or ‘Izzy’. However, the title fight has not been finalized yet.

Meanwhile, this fight will be of utmost importance for Khamzat Chimaev since he will be fighting a proper middleweight contender for the first time since his 185-pound return. He failed to impress fans in his last outing, where he went the distance against Kamaru Usman, who made his middleweight debut at UFC 294. As such, Chimaev would hope that his next fight will be better than the previous one.

Meanwhile, there has been no word on Sean Strickland, who also has legitimate claims for a title rematch, while Israel Adesanya’s path seems clearer and clearer with each passing day. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on June 22 and see how things shape up in the middleweight division in the months to come.

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