Robert Whittaker says his best pound-for-pound UFC fighter will always be Jon Jones.
The No.3 ranked middleweight has also offered up a dream fight that he, as well as many MMA fans, would love to see in the near future.
Whittaker is one of the UFC’s toughest middleweight fighters
Australia’s Whittaker takes on Khamzat Chimaev in UFC 308’s co-main event on October 26 in Abu Dhabi.
The former UFC middleweight champion was victorious in his last octagon appearance over Ikram Aliskerov in June and is eyeing up a title shot for his subsequent bout.
“Pound-for-pound? That’s hard to say,” Whittaker said, speaking to talkSPORT.com.
“My pound-for-pound is always the same, It’s always Jon Jones. He’s always one.
“Pound-for-pound for me is, you put him and anybody else in a room and who leaves? Right.”
Whittaker emerged in the UFC after winning The Ultimate Fighter in 2012. He originally started as a welterweight before moving up to 185-pounds in 2014.
He gained interim middleweight championship status after defeating Yoel Romero at UFC 213, before defeating the American again just three months later.
‘The Reaper’ was then set to fight the winner of Michael Bisping vs Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217 to unify the belt.
But St Pierre retired after submitting the British champion and subsequently relinquished the belt.
This meant Whittaker was crowned the undisputed UFC middleweight champion, but his second fight with Romero was a non-title fight as his opponent missed weight.
Whittaker has lost to Adesanya on two different occasionsGETTY
He was then knocked out by interim champion Israel Adesanya in his home country at UFC 243 in February 2022 in front of a record 57,127 spectators.
“I would love to see [Tom] Aspinall and [Jon] Jones,” Whittaker added.
“I don’t think we will see it, but I want to see it. I think Jones fights Stipe [Miocic] and then hangs up [his gloves].”
UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones defends his belt against Miocic in Madison Square Garden on November 17.
Aspinall is the current interim heavyweight champion and back-up fighter for the main event clash, but rumours have it Jones will retire after his fight in New York.
Dricus Du Plessis is the UFC’s middleweight champion and he will defend his title against No.1 contender Sean Strickland – the man he originally beat to claim the belt.
Whittaker shared his thoughts on Du Plessis’ unorthodox style and how the pair will fare up in their title rematch.
Du Plessis knocked out Whittaker at UFC 290Getty
“Strickland has to do something very different [to beat Du Plessis], which I don’t know if he can because that’s not how he fights,” he said.
“He’s [Du Plessis’] beating them all, I mean he beat me. Even when I was in there I thought he was cumbersome, slow and awkward, and then he gets his hands on you and he hits hard.
“Maybe that’s all part of the method to his madness. Whatever he does, it’s effective and it works. He’s tough as nails, so you have to respect his style and address it.”
Elsewhere at UFC 308, Ilia Topuria defends his featherweight title for the first time against Max Holloway.
Holloway is coming off an incredible victory at UFC 300, where he knocked out Justin Gaethje with one second left on the clock in their five-round bout.
Topuria has vowed to be the first man to KO ‘Blessed’ in their main event clash in the UAE.
“It’s super hard to say [who will win],” Whittaker said about the main event.
“Max is one of those guys that is very – on paper It’s very hard to see how he loses, but then you look at the skill set of Topuria.
“He would have to be one of the guys with the highest skill levels across the board in multiple martial arts, so I’m very curious to see how it goes.”
UK fans will not have to stay up late for the main event card, as live coverage starts from 5pm in Abu Dhabi,
You can watch the event live on TNT Sports Box Office on Sunday, October 26.