Khamzat Chimaev did not simply win the middleweight championship final Saturday within the UFC 319 most important occasion. He made a press release to the division by completely dominating then-champion Dricus Du Plessis.
With Chimaev’s one-sided win, former middleweight champion Michael Bisping believes we have entered a brand new ear within the division, the Khamzat Chimaev Period.
“I am telling you proper now, we’re residing within the period of Khamzat Chimaev,” Bisping stated on his YouTube channel. “I am not going to sit down right here and criticize Dricus Du Plessis. I believe he is an unbelievable fighter and a fantastic champion and he might very properly be again, however proper now we’re residing within the period of Khamzat Chimaev.”
Bisping does not assume Chimaev being champion can be good for the load class, however not for the explanations some would possibly assume. “The Rely” solely sees one fighter that he thinks has an opportunity to beat the Chechen.
“This can be a catastrophe with Khamzat Chimaev because the champion,” Bisping stated. “I do not imply due to what Din Thomas stated. Thomas was like, ‘he is not going to have the ability to battle too steadily. He struggles with visas and stuff like that.’ No. After I stated this can be a catastrophe, it is a catastrophe for the division as a result of from what I see there, ain’t no one, ain’t no one, aside from Reinier de Ridder, ain’t no one beating him.
“Reinier de Ridder is the one man that has a shot due to the jiu-jitsu, due to the abilities he has off his again.”
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Whereas Bisping believes de Ridder creates an attention-grabbing matchup, he does not see the Chimaev shedding the title anytime quickly.
“That is going to be most likely a really lengthy and dominant reign within the middleweight division,” Bisping stated. “I do not assume we have ever seen a dominant wrestler like Khamzat Chimaev within the middleweight division. Usually it has been strikers. Have a look at [Israel] Adesanya. Have a look at Anderson Silva, Wealthy Franklin. The record goes on. Yeah, we had Chris Weidman. He was an excellent wrestler, defended the belt just a few instances to be truthful.”
