Unbeaten middleweight star Khamzat Chimaev believes long-time rival Alex Pereira has just one option to defeat him within the Octagon.
Staking his claim for a second championship within the UFC despite just weeks faraway from his middleweight coronation, Khamzat Chimaev has a showdown with Alex Pereira on his radar.
And welcoming a clash with the Brazilian berserker within the immediate aftermath of his 80-second knockout win over Magomed Ankalaev, Chimaev stays confident of solving the Sao Paulo puzzle.
Breaking down the pairing, Chimaev claimed there is simply one scenario during which Pereira would have the option to stop him and inflict his first skilled loss.
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Khamzat Chimaev cautious of Alex Pereira’s knockout power
Confident in his ability to maneuver to a different division, Chimaev has intentions to eventually make a climb to the sunshine heavyweight limit.
And initially competing at welterweight before his move to middleweight en path to gold, Chimaev is simply frightened about one aspect of his potential fight with Pereira. Power.
“In the event you ask me, in fact, I’d like to fight for the second belt,” Chimaev told Arslanbek Badaev. “It’s not a secret, the guy (Alex Pereira) who has got the belt at 205lbs now’s a excellent matchup for me — expect if I should get reckless standing with him.
“They are saying he has quite a lot of power,” Chimaev said of ‘Poatan’. “But I’ve never been edged out in that area. He used to fight at 185 [pounds], too, after which he moved as much as 205 [pounds]. So, I would really like to fight at light heavyweight.”
Dana White earmarks middleweight run for Khamzat Chimaev
Often not against fighters making divisional leaps, UFC CEO Dana White has now instructed champions that upon their move in weight classes, they may need to relinquish their current belt first, nonetheless.
And having just captured the middleweight title in August together with his dominant win over Dricus du Plessis, Chimaev has many contenders awaiting him within the division.
A lot so, White is hopeful of booking him against any combination of contenders — including whomever emerges from this weekend’s UFC Vancouver essential event with an enormous win.