Robert Whittaker doubles down on his Colby Covington vs. Khamzat Chimaev take in response to Chael Sonnen

Robert Whittaker recently responded to Chael Sonnen questioning his take on the rumored clash between Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev. According to the former UFC middleweight champion, Covington is not an elite striker and 'Borz' is a terrible matchup for the American.

Sonnen couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Robert Whittaker dismissed Covington's striking abilities and picked Chimaev to emerge as the victor. Making his case, 'The American Gangster' alluded to the grueling two fights that 'Chaos' endured against former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

.@robwhittakermma picks Khamzat Chimaev to beat Colby Covington:

"Khamzat for Colby is a bad match-up ... stylistically, fight-wise, I think that's a terrible fight for Colby.”

🎥: youtu.be/Y6RX1rAN4Uw https://t.co/YNLuQIzzob

Responding to Sonnen's comments in a recent interview with mainevent, Robert Whittaker claimed that the fight against Usman wasn't the right benchmark to judge Covington's standup skills. The way he sees it, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' isn't that great of a striker himself:

"I said terrible [matchup between Chimaev and Covington], after thinking about it, that's a harsh word to use. I think a hard matchup is better to use. I still don't think Colby is an outstanding striker. I think he's a good striker. It's his cardio and his threat of wrestling that gives his striking the ability to even show itself."

Whittaker added:

"Also, I don't think Usman is that good of a striker. I think he's a good striker. So, I'm not getting massive reads from Colby's striking levels based on his fight with Usman."

The Australian middleweight contender also stated that Khamzat Chimaev has nailed down the rudimental principles of striking while doubling down on his prediction.

Watch the full video below:

Khamzat Chimaev once claimed that he wants to train with Robert Whittaker

Khamzat Chimaev claimed in the UFC 279 post-fight media interview that he likes Robert Whittaker's fighting style and wants to train with him someday.

'Borz' was originally scheduled to fight Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 279. However, he missed weight by a colossal margin of 7.5 lbs. Tony Ferguson stepped in to face the Stockton native while Chimaev went on to face Kevin Holland.

Fight fans and MMA pundits have suggested that Chimaev should move to the middleweight division to avoid such a debacle in the future.

While weighing in on potential matchup ideas proposed by a reporter in the post-fight media interview, Khamzat Chimaev claimed that he would rather train with Whittaker than fight him:

"I like that guy. I don't want to fight with good guys. I need some bad guy. I want to train with that guy. He's really good and one of the best guys in the world. I was watching his fights. I watch how he trains."

Catch Chimaev's comments from the 12:00 min mark below: