Robert Whittaker: Khamzat Chimaev fight good for 'clout,' beating Sean Strickland puts me at No. 1

Robert Whittaker sees the benefit of what a win against Sean Strickland could do for his title-shot chances.

Robert Whittaker prefers fighting Sean Strickland over Khamzat Chimaev next.

Fresh off an impressive win over Paulo Costa at UFC 298, Whittaker (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) is eyeing a return on the rumored Perth, Australia card in August. With the former UFC middleweight champion having already fought the majority of the top-ranked contenders, he’s yet to face two big names – Strickland (28-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) and Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC). But for Whittaker, a fight with former champ Strickland has more perks.

“That’s tricky because that doesn’t move me. It does in clout, but it doesn’t move me higher up in the rankings,” Whittaker told MMA Junkie of a fight with Chimaev. “I don’t know. I want to fight guys in the top five. Beating Strickland puts me at (No.) 1 again, and that’s as close as you can get really.”

Strickland took aim at Whittaker during the UFC 297 pre-fight press conference, implying that he’s one-dimensional. Whittaker could only laugh off his comments.

“Yeah, pretty good blitzing, you know?” Whittaker said. “And everyone knows I do it, so I’m interested to see if he can do something about it, as well. I’ll blitz him, as well.”

Strickland captured the middleweight title in Sydney, Australia when he upset Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. He later lost it to Dricus Du Plessis this past January at UFC 297.

Strickland was very popular amongst the Australian fans, so Whittaker thinks it shouldn’t be too difficult to lure him back to fighting there.

“He had a huge reception here in Australia,” Whittaker said. “I’m sure that the fans would love to see me and him cross paths here on home soil, and he by all looks of it, I think he has fond memories of Australia, right? So, I would think he would be up for it.”