Robert Whittaker has taken to his podcast, MMArcade, to dispel rumors that he was offered a fight against Khamzat Chimaev. While speaking with Ariel Helwani, Chimaev claimed that Whittaker was among the fighters he was offered following his UFC 279 victory over Kevin Holland. However, Whittaker has made it clear that he was never offered a fight with Chimaev.

“I haven’t been offered any fight. I’ve just been waiting,” he said.

Whittaker was previously expected to fight Paulo Costa at UFC 284 in February, but the bout never came to fruition. With the middleweight title fight between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya scheduled for UFC 287, which Whittaker believes could determine his next opponent, the former champion has been speaking with the UFC about his future plans.

“I’ve been talking with the UFC, and the communication has been, ‘Let’s wait and see what happens with this title shot,’” Whittaker said. “I have not received any sort of written contract that says, ‘Do you want to fight Chimaev in x, y, or z?’ That’s not something that has been presented to me. So just clarifying that.”