Khamzat Chimaev, hailed as the “best wrestler” in the game, is getting some serious backing to dominate Robert Whittaker at UFC 308. A fellow middleweight has thrown his support behind Chimaev, confident that his grappling skills will give him the edge in this highly anticipated matchup.
With fans already buzzing about this clash, all eyes are on Chimaev to see if he can live up to the hype and take down one of the division’s toughest fighters and finally reach the promised land of a title shot in the UFC.
Caio Borralho’s recent win over Jared Cannonier has put him firmly on the map. He recently sat down with ‘Submission Radio’ to share his thoughts on the MMA landscape and break down the upcoming fight between Whittaker and Chimaev.
“Khamzat … I think he is the best wrestler in the division right now. We saw how he dominated Kamaru Usman. Let’s see how good are the training partners of Whittaker that are going to mimic the Khamzat style. It all depends on that.”
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Borralho reckons that Whittaker might be making the same mistake a lot of fighters have in the past. He feels that every fighter knows that Chimaev is a good grappler but they have no idea of the power he possesses until they’re in the octagon and by then it is too late.
He feels the only way for Whittaker to prepare for it is by facing the best grapplers he possibly can during training camp. With a potential title shot on the line, both fighters will make sure no stone is left unturned.
Meanwhile, UFC’s middleweight champion is wondering if he’s facing Sean Strickland or the winner of Chimaev vs Whittaker.
Dricus Du Plessis awaits South African title defense
Following his impressive win over former middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, DDP made it clear that he had no interested in facing Strickland and would rather face the winner of Whittaker vs Chimaev.
As things stand, the UFC wants to award a rematch to Strickland as most people including Dana White himself felt he won the fight against Du Plessis.
Now, here’s the thing, as Strickland would say!
Dana White had revealed prior to the DDP vs. Adesanya fight that if the South African won, he would be bringing the UFC to the African continent. Unfortunately, Strickland doesn’t want to do that. What bargaining chips he must have to demand a change in venue from the UFC is yet to be known.
But if DDP’s next defense does take place in SA and Strickland refuses to travel, the buck then falls to the winner of Whittaker and Chimaev.
Regardless, if either Chimaev or Whittaker is able to get a finish in the fight, they could potentially leapfrog Strickland for the title shot. Relevance is key in this game and sitting on the sidelines is not doing Strickland any favors with fans and their short-lived memories.
