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Robert Whittaker knows what it's like to be an undisputed UFC Champion. The Australian Middleweight lost his title to Israel Adesanya last October, but he's right back in the mix after returning and defeating Darren Till in a solid decision victory.
Robert Whittaker is now set to face Jared Cannonier - who he was originally scheduled to fight at UFC 248. This time, his fight will be at UFC 254 underneath the highly-anticipated Khabib Nurmagomedov-Justin Gaethje Lightweight title bout.
Robert Whittaker appeared on a recent episode of Submission Radio (H/T BJPENN.com) and spoke about Khabib Nurmagomedov. He was full of praise for the Russian Lightweight Champion, calling him a great role model for the sport. He compared his respect and honor to that of Georges St-Pierre.
Robert Whittaker also said that Khabib Nurmagomedov's prowess and style is what makes him stand out. The fact that everybody knows his gameplan and is unable to do anything about it was described as "amazing" by the former UFC Champion. He continued, saying:
"It is amazing to have that sort of level of anything in the game. Because there has been good and very high-level guys in the game across the history. There’s been a lot of high-level guys with those sort of skillsets, where people know what to do, and then they start to work them out and they start to counter them, and then you see everyone switch onto it and the guy can’t quite get to his game plan anymore. Not with Khabib. Khabib does it. He makes it work no matter what. And that is amazing. Amazing. Especially at the level that he’s at. I think that’s amazing."
Robert Whittaker also believes that Khabib Nurmagomedov will keep the "0" intact in his record, saying:
"I don’t see him losing. I don’t see him losing ever."
Is Robert Whittaker right about Khabib Nurmagomedov possibly staying undefeated?
In MMA, the entire idea of staying undefeated seems virtually impossible to most. It's not like boxing where fighters get to face "journeymen" and average-level opponents while building their name.
In UFC, fighters are thrown against the top-level names right from the start. Khabib Nurmagomedov's teammate Daniel Cormier believes that Justin Gaethje will be his toughest test to date.
Will Khabib Nurmagomedov remain undefeated and retire? It's hard to say, but if there's anyone who can do it - it's him.
