UFC 308 adds Robert Whittaker – Khamzat Chimaev

Well, let’s try this again. Dana White took to social media today and announced the UFC 308 card which will go down in Abu Dhabi on October 26th. The co-main event will feature a middleweight title eliminator between former champion Robert Whittaker (26-7) and Khamzat Chimaev (13-0).

These two were originally supposed to fight back in June at UFC Saudi Arabia. However, Chimaev got violently ill and couldn’t train. The fight was called off and ultimately Ikram Aliskerov stepped up to face Whittaker. Whittaker knocked him out in the first round.

That was Whittaker’s second straight win after his loss to Dricus Du Plessis last year. Whittaker is trying to make his case for another shot at the middleweight title. Next month, the UFC returns to Australia with DDP taking on Israel Adesanya. Have to think that both Whittaker and Chimaev will be watching that closely.

UFC 308

Speaking of Chimaev, when he makes the walk in October, it’ll be the first time that he’s fought since last October also in Abu Dhabi. That night, Chimaev took on and defeated Kamaru Usman by decision. Chimaev was originally supposed to face Paulo Costa, but Costa had to pull out of the fight.

It’s been an interesting few years for Chimaev in the UFC. He ran through his first three opponents in a span of two months. However, after that, he had a ton of issues with covid and didn’t fight for over a year. He returned in October 2021 and fought three times in the next 12 months defeating the likes of Li Jingliang, Gilbert Burns, and Kevin Holland.

However, he’s only fought once since then. He needs a big win at UFC 308 to get the title shot he’s always dreamed of having.