Khabib Nurmagomedov was the most dominant wrestler in the UFC, a true connoisseur of the ‘ground and pound’. But since Khamzat Chimaev pushed back Robert Whittaker’s teeth with a face crank, UFC commentator Joe Rogan has come around to the fact that the Chechen might just be the most intense, more dominant fighter in the promotion.
Despite having had to pull out of his previous fights at the 11th hour, owing to illness, Chimaev looked just as menacing inside the octagon, if not more.
While he was uncharacteristically calm and humble during the pre-fight festivities, owing to his desire to be a good father, Chimaev’s courteous nature was only restricted to the mic he was talking into. Once he walked into the octagon, last weekend, he didn’t give Whittaker a whiff of a chance.
He shot the moment he could and Whittaker had no escape from that point on. As time went on, Chimaev dug in his heels deeper and eventually finished off the Aussie in a manner consistent with his reputation.
This has led to questions about just how strong he is. And since Nurmagomedov is a benchmark for wrestlers in the UFC, having never lost any of his 29 MMA fights, a comparison was not just the norm, it was also necessary.
But it wasn’t only Whittaker who Chimaev overwhelmed during the fight. What he did to the former middleweight champion, had a deep impact on Rogan and the commentator, on an episode of his own podcast, empathized with Whittaker.
Calling it demoralizing, Rogan asserted that he was relentless and overwhelming. Speaking further about the Chechen’w prowess on the ground, he said:
“Maybe even more intense (than Khabib), maybe even more dominant.”
Rogan picked the example of Khabib vs. Conor at UFC 229 talking about how ‘The Eagle’ took some time before he overpowered the Irishman. Whereas, ‘Borz’ just immediately puts the pressure and overwhelms his opponents.
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To be fair to Khabib and without any offense to Whittaker, McGregor was just an elite striker, even back then, quite a bit sharper, and stronger for both the featherweight and the lightweight divisions.
All that considered, for Chimaev to do what he did and how easily he did it against a seasoned veteran and former champion in Whittaker makes him a very scary man.
‘Borz‘, however, isn’t too concerned with being compared to anyone. He wants the middleweight title. The middleweight champion wants him to have a shot at the title.
So why is Sean Strickland short-jabbing his way between them?
Du Plessis welcomes Chimaev fight
It is common consensus that the heavyweight champion Jon Jones doesn’t want to fight interim champion, Tom Aspinall. Bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t want to fight Umar Nurmagomedov, and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira doesn’t want to fight Magomed Ankalaev.
All these guys are champions, essentially ducking the best opponents in their divisions.
Thankfully, the middleweight is different because its champion Dricus du Plessis saw what Chimaev did to Whittaker and thought ‘I want some of that’.
The South African wants to take on the Russian fighter next but right now, Sean Strickland seems to be next in line for the fight. Strickland lost the title in his first defense against DDP and while he beat Paulo Costa, that was just 25 minutes to short jabs and then the last 10 seconds of him doing jumping kicks. This was after he promised a battle during the pre-fight pressers and interviews.
Hopefully, Chimaev’s performance at UFC 308 has changed UFC’s mind. There is no fighter in the division that is as hot right now as Chimaev. His stock is as up as it could ever be and right now would be the perfect time to introduce him to the UFC gold.
Besides, the South African fighter also feels more motivated at the prospect of fighting Chimaev. There’s a good reason for that as well. If he manages beat the Chechen, he can practically do whatever he wants.
“I beat Robert Whittaker … Sean Strickland, [and] Israel Adesanya. Then I beat Khamzat Chimaev. That warrants a double title fight.”
Maybe DDP’ unconventional way of fighting is the only way to deal with ‘Borz’. Hopefully, we find out soon.
