UFC insider downplays Robert Whittaker's loss to Khamzat Chimaev, shares eye-opening take on how 205-move could aid the former middleweight champion

A noted UFC persona recently opined how moving up to light heavyweight might turn out to be beneficial for Robert Whittaker. He also labeled Whittaker's previous loss as an occasional happening.

Whittaker held the UFC middleweight gold from December 2017 to October 2019. But since his loss against Israel Adesanya at UFC 243, the Australian hasn't been able to climb up the ladder to earn himself another shot at the title.

Whittaker's last fight ended in a devastating defeat at UFC 308, with Khamzat Chimaev, creating problems for him with his incredible wrestling right from the beginning of the encounter. Chimaev submitted Whittaker within the first round of the fight and dislocated three of his lower incisors with a face crank. In a recent interview with MMArcade, Whittaker also mentioned that he was looking to move up to light-heavyweight.

However, Chael Sonnen, mentioned that he doesn't see Whittaker's UFC 308 loss as a major debacle in his latest YouTube video. He said:

"There was a position, a specific opponent that cost Whittaker that [his UFC 308] fight."

Still, 'The American Gangster' supported Whittaker's half-hearted approach towards moving up to light-heavyweight and stating a reason behind the same. Sonnen iterated:

"I'm completely for [in favor of] that idea [Whittaker moving up to light heavyweight]... Whittaker is getting to that point where he might start to sense its reality [that he isn't as fast as he used to be earlier because of age]. And one of the first things that happen is you slow down, you slow down everywhere... And one of the greatest ways to mask it is to go up in weight because those guys are slower."

Check out Chael Sonnen's opinion below (5:20):

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Robert Whittaker predicted a victory for Israel Adesanya in his next fight

Robert Whittaker's former rival and former middleweight champ, Israel Adesanya also hasn't seen much success in the last few UFC fights. Adesanya's middleweight title run began with defeating Whittaker at UFC 243. He lost the title to Alex Pereira at UFC 281 and reclaimed it at UFC 297.

However, Adesanya lost the title once more at UFC 293 against Sean Strickland and then failed to reclaim it at UFC 305. Whittaker recently predicted that Adesanya will return to winning ways in his next fight during one of his MMArcade podcast appearances. 'The Reaper' said:

"I'd have to lean into Izzy [Adesanya] being the favorite. He's so good at what he does, but Imavov's a bit of a dog like he can go the distance. His striking is good, I can see him pushing the pace, pushing the pressure to try to make Adesanya make errors much like how Dricus [du Plessis] fought him [at UFC 305]."

Check out Robert Whittaker's comments (0:41):