Whittaker: 'I'm in a great headspace to take another hard fight'

Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is ready for a tough outing against Khamzat Chimaev.

Whittaker is scheduled to face the undefeated Chimaev in the UFC Saudi Arabia main event June 22 in Riyadh.

"I do understand the task at hand," Whittaker said on his "MMArcade Podcast" on Thursday. "It's gonna be hard, and I'm gonna be grinding my ass off this camp. I'm looking forward to it. ... I'm in a great headspace to take another hard fight."

Whittaker is just six weeks removed from a unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa at UFC 298, which got "The Reaper" back on track after he suffered a knockout loss to current 185-pound champ Dricus Du Plessis last summer.

UFC CEO Dana White deemed the matchup between Whittaker and Chimaev a title eliminator.

"This gets me in line to get the belt back, and that's the goal," Whittaker said.

Chimaev, one of the most dominant fighters in the sport, is coming off a decision win over former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 last October.

"I understand he's a hard fighter," Whittaker said of Chimaev. "He likes to grapple a lot. He uses his reach and range to good effectiveness. He's got knockout power. He likes to play the villain against these guys, against his opponents, but he's an honorable fighter.

"We're gonna get in there and we're gonna have an honest fight. We're both gonna leave it (in) there. He's not a quitter, I'm not a quitter. So I look forward to really making history in Saudi Arabia."