Robert Whittaker: 'Gun to my head,' Khamzat Chimaev runs over Sean Strickland

Robert Whittaker can't see Sean Strickland having an answer for UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev's grappling.

Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) is a huge favorite going into his first title defense against Strickland (30-7 MMA, 17-7 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 328 (Paramount+) main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Whittaker experienced Chimaev's grappling prowess first hand when he was quickly submitted in their fight at UFC 308.

"We want to see if Strickland has what it takes," Whittaker told UFC on Paramount+. "All the things he's talking, he talks a big game. He almost convinces me that he could do it. But having been in there with Chimaev, having seen what Chimaev can do, once he gets his hands on him – and he will.

"Because he shoots from so far away, and he commits wholeheartedly, and he will get you to the mat. It's what happens after. Seeing that he has the cardio to be able to do that for five rounds as well, mate. Gun to my head, Chimaev is going run him over."

Robert Whittaker: Khamzat Chimaev 'just next level'

Whittaker knew what Chimaev wanted to do but explains what makes the undefeated phenom so unstoppable.

"All the preparation we did, he was just better than the preparation," Whittaker said. "His ability to stick to you, control the positions, to just move into another position once he's got his hands on you was just next level. We also saw that with the Dricus (Du Plessis) fight. Dricus is a hard guy to hold down.

"He's a big, strong man, and the way he handled him and extended his cardio over five rounds, and just kept making those adjustments, efficiently making those adjustments so he didn't gas himself early. ... We prepped as well as anybody else can, and I'm sure Dricus prepped as well as anybody else could. It's just his level is to be respected."