Khamzat Chimaev says his best UFC struggle remains to be out forward of him.
Except his ‘Combat of the Yr’ candidate with Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 practically a yr in the past, Chimaev has run by way of the remainder of his previous opponents. Gerald Meerschaert, Jingliang Li, and Kevin Holland fell brief towards ‘Borz’ in lower than a spherical, however the Chechen admits none of them have been as straightforward as they appeared.
Surprisingly sufficient, that distinction was reserved for an opponent Chimaev hasn’t even confronted but: UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira. Since his beautiful fifth-round TKO of Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 this previous November, the Swedish sensation set his sights on ‘Po Atan,’ who he supplied to ’smash’ for his first protection.
For the reason that UFC went with a direct rematch between Pereira and Adesanya as a substitute, Chimaev has to attend for the chance. If he will get it, the 28-year-old expects to dispatch the middleweight division’s present king.
“He’s essentially the most straightforward struggle for me within the UFC,” mentioned Chimaev throughout an look on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. “In my profession, brother.
“First spherical, first minute,” continued Chimaev. “Straightforward. No punch, nothing.”
As simple as he appears to see his struggle towards Pereira going, Chimaev additionally added that Adesanya also needs to have little to no problem with the Brazilian—so long as he focuses on his wrestling.
“If Israel trains simply wrestling on this coaching camp, he’ll beat him simply,” mentioned Chimaev. “The man has zero wrestling. I don’t know. Sure, UFC likes to push that man, loopy man, and he’s taking part in, exhibiting his face at all times severe, and all that s—t. Why play that a lot? I don’t like that man. He has no actual wrestling. Who they provide him? Who was wrestler in his profession?”
For his subsequent struggle, Chimaev stays unscheduled. The 2-division marvel is transferring up from welterweight to middleweight, hoping to face a top-ranked title equivalent to Robert Whittaker subsequent.
Concerning the writer: Kristen King is a author for Bloody Elbow. She has lined fight sports activities since 2016. (full bio)
