Khamzat Chimaev has ambitions of achieving UFC double-champ status and stated that he wants to fight Alex Pereira for the middleweight title in Brazil.
‘Borz’ currently sits at #3 in the UFC welterweight rankings, and a possible matchup with Colby Covington has been rumored. However, after last weekend’s result in the UFC 281 main event, Khamzat Chminaev has eyed up a fight with ‘Poatan’.
Chimaev has fought at 185 lbs at various times in his career. Given his enormous weight miss at UFC 279, some people even feel that middleweight is where ‘Borz’ belongs.
Whilst speaking to Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA, Chimaev said the following about the matchup with Pereira:
“I want to fight [Alex] Pereira in Brazil, in his home. And the guy is in good shape and everything is alright with him. I don’t think he has any surgeries. He get his purple belt as well yesterday so, he get’s his BJJ purple belt and becomes a better wrestler? I don’t know. Maybe he’s ready for me as well.”
Khamzat Chimaev is known to be large for the welterweight division and could easily fit in at 185 lbs.
However, Pereira weighed in at roughly 215 lbs when he stepped into the octagon at UFC 281 against Israel Adesanya.
Watch the interview below from 8:15:
Daniel Cormier says Khamzat Chimaev would be a massive favorite against Alex Pereira
Alex Pereira is the new king of the middleweight division after finishing Israel Adesanya in the fifth round of their fight at UFC 281.
The Brazilian’s victory seems to have given Khamzat Chimaev ideas of a quick route to UFC gold. ‘Borz’ called out ‘Poatan’ in a series of tweets following the conclusion of UFC 281.
UFC commentator and Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier recently stated that Chimaev would be a betting favorite if ‘Borz’ were to fight Pereira. ‘DC’ spoke to co-host Ryan Clark on DC & RC, and said:
“If you schedule him [Alex Pereira] and Khamzat right now, Khamzat will be a massive favorite to beat Alex Pereira. Just because of the style. The style just does not match up yet. For Pereira, he’s so young in his career that this was honestly the ideal champion [Adesanya] for him.”
Watch the video below from 22:10: