Khamzat Chimaev has not just silenced his detractors with his performance at UFC 308, but has made some new fans as well. UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is thoroughly impressed by the way the Russian dominated former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.
Chimaev won by submission in the very first round — a performance so clinical that it put the entire division on notice. A healthy ‘Borz’ is a scary ‘Borz’ indeed.
Aspinall, who is a couple of weight classes above, admitted he wanted to be as dominant as ‘Borz’ inside the octagon.
“The guy is absolutely incredible. To do that to Robert Whittaker, honestly it just inspires me to be better because you go in and dominate a former champion like that….being completely one-sided, inspiring man…he’s definitely gonna be a champion”
And if Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones don’t retire after UFC 309, Aspinall might even get a chance to do it on the grandest of stages, fighting for the undisputed title.
Chimaev, on his part, will need to continue dominating if he wants to get a middleweight title shot. Despite his jaw-breaking performance at UFC 308, Sean Strickland is still the frontrunner to take on the champion, Dricus du Plessis.
If the UFC decides to overlook Strickland and lines up ‘Borz‘ against the South African, he will have to be prepared to go the distance. DDP is an unorthodox fighter. And he can go toe-to-toe with Chimaev, matching not just his strength but also unpredictability, à la bar fight.
However, for the time being, Chimaev can bask in the glory of his dominance.
Team Khabib praises Chimaev
Chimaev has earned praise from the head coach of AKA, Javier Mendez. The man behind both Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s success in MMA spoke about how much he enjoyed watching Chimaev dominate.
“When he takes you down, great control, great everything. And then when Robert gave his back, he got on that and the jaw went snap.”
‘Borz’ smashed Whittaker’s jaw while forcing the submission through a face crank. At the time nobody realized the extent of the injury. People were shocked and confused to see a seasoned prize fighter like Whittaker tap so quickly. It was only after Daniel Cormier shared a picture of the inside of Whittaker’s mouth that everybody realized what transpired.
Riding high on this win, the Russian has eyes set on the title shot. He deserves it too. Chimaev has climbed his way up the ladder, and all that is remaining is the last step. Hopefully, he doesn’t catch another cold while working toward it.
