Ilia Topuria predicts the winner of Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev: "He’ll really crush him"

Ilia Topuria feels Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev will not be a competitive fight but a blow-out in one fighter's direction. Whittaker is one of the best strikers while Chimaev rose to prominence with his dominant wrestling. Many expect it to be an interesting stylistic matchup.

However, Topuria thinks Chimaev might run through Whittaker and claim a dominant victory on Oct. 25. During a recent online Q&A session, Topuria answered a fan when he asked to predict the outcome of the potential middleweight title eliminator fight:

"Chimaev will crush [Robert Whittaker]. That's what I Think. I love Robert Whittaker but he'll crush him, for real! Khamzat is a beast."

Check out Ilia Topuria's comments below:

Whittaker and Chimaev were originally scheduled to headline the UFC's inaugural event in Saudi Arabia in June. However, Chimaev was forced to pull out due to a health issue and Whittaker defeated Ikram Aliskerov in a short-notice replacement bout.

The pair will now fight in the UFC 308 co-main event on Oct. 25. Topuria will attempt the first defense of his UFC featherweight title against Max Holloway in the headlining bout of the same event.

Many expect UFC 308 to be the biggest challenge of Chimaev's career by far as Whittaker is regarded as one of the best anti-wrestlers in the UFC. Additionally, there have been a lot of concerns about Chimaev's performance due to lingering health issues.

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Robert Whittaker thinks Ilia Topuria is underrated but feels Max Holloway can win at UFC 308

While Ilia Topuria is not giving Robert Whittaker much of a chance against Khamzat Chimaev, 'The Reaper' thinks highly of the Spaniard's fighting skills and recently implied that he could defeat Max Holloway. That said, Whittaker is picking Holloway to beat the champion at UFC 308.

While breaking down the fight on the MMArcade podcast, Whittaker said:

“I would have to say I’m leaning towards Holloway. But in saying that, I wanna see Topuria run his story. His skill level is so high. I think it’s super underrated right now. Maybe that’s because of exposure, and he hasn’t been in as many headlining [fights] as Holloway has because he hasn’t done the work on paper as of just yet. But, gun to my head, I would have to lean towards Holloway. But wait and see. I was leaning towards Volk before the last one.”

Check out Robert Whittaker's comments below: