Khamzat Chimaev's old rival Robert Whittaker is backing him to move up in weight again and win UFC gold.
The controversial Swedish star brutally submitted Whittaker at UFC 308, but lost after a shot at the middleweight belt to Sean Strickland's Dricus Du Plessis. With rumors swirling on social media about a possible move to light heavyweight to take on Alex Pereira, he is receiving unlikely support.
Chimaev is undefeated in his professional MMA career thus far, but has been inactive due to health and visa issues. He has also fought as low as welterweight before and has never made the substantial jump to 205 pounds.
Khamzat Chimaev was rumored to get a shot at Alex Pereira's title
After it emerged that Dricus Du Plessis would face Sean Strickland at UFC 312 in Sydney, questions began to arise about Khamzat Chimaev's future. He has been on a seemingly one-fight-a-year diet for the past few years since experiencing problems entering America and battling health issues.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
However, in recent days, fans on social media have latched onto a seemingly baseless rumor that he may get a shot at light-heavyweight gold. This is despite never fighting at weight and boss Dana White's concerns about fighters moving up several weights.
The only saving grace for this theory is the speed at which Pereira has dominated the entire 205lb division. There's only one top five contender he hasn't knocked out yet; Magomed Ankalaev.
Alex Pereira appears to reject Magomed Ankalaev's challenge
While it seemed like Pereira was on a collision course with Ankalaev, plans appear to have changed. After his win over Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 firmly established his spot at the top of the division, this seemed like an obvious fight.
However, Pereira recently told fans on social media that he does not expect to face the Russian in his next fight. He shared a video on Instagram showing highlights of the fights and teasing his next title defense, captioning it alongside a crying emoji: ““It won't be Ankalaev!”
Ankalaev has been relentless in his pursuit of Pereira and the light heavyweight title, but it now appears he will have to wait even longer.
Robert Whittaker backs Khamzat Chimaev to defeat Alex Pereira
Should Chimaev get the chance to win gold at light heavyweight, it appears he has quite a few backers. Many fans on social media have made their feelings clear that his dominant wrestling will make him a serious challenge for Pereira, whose kickboxing has earned him all of his UFC victories.
One man who has experienced Chimaev's pressure firsthand is former world middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, who said during a recent episode of the MMAArcade podcast that Chimaev would win “easily.”
“Not easy,” he confirmed, before adding: “I don't think it will happen unless the heavyweight power changes the dynamic. Chimaev will get the takedown and it's just him being good at what he does and playing to his strengths.
“But hypothetically, let's say Chimaev slows down and accelerates a little, Pereira doesn't. He can fall asleep, exhausted, he's been doing it all his life and he will kill Chimaev. It won't be like that Usman-Chimaev fight where he sidelined him a bit after he got tired. It will be a slaughter. But does it go that far?”
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