Who can beat Khamzat Chimaev? UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber thinks one middleweight contender has a chance.
Middleweight champion Chimaev has looked near unstoppable in the octagon, most recently dominating Dricus Du Plessis to win his first UFC title. Chimaev has been tested in the past by Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman, but showed heart to prevail.
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Faber credits Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) for his ability to dictate a fight whenever he wants.
“I think it comes down to mentality, not technique with him,” Faber said of Chimaev on the JAXXON Podcast. “What I see with him is a guy that’s got some amazing physical gifts. He’s 100 percent in on his game plan, that’s very powerful. That’s hard to fight.
“When everybody else is fighting with all these different disciplines and you’re going to go in there with one and you’re 100 percent committed, and you’re young, durable, hungry, believes he can beat anybody, that’s hard to beat.”
Anthony Hernandez (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) meets Sean Strickland in a potential No. 1 contender bout at UFC Fight Night 267 on Feb. 21 in Houston (Paramount+). Strickland dubbed Hernandez as the “American Chimaev,” and Faber thinks “Fluffy” has the attributes to potentially pose Chimaev problems.
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“Anthony Hernandez, he’s always had a gas like Cain Velasquez had a gas tank,” Faber said. “It’s like the Mexican guys with the big f*cking bodies have big lungs or something. He can just go, go, go. But now he’s got Eliot Kelly who’s a high-level wrestler and a high-level jiu-jitsu player, he’s got Ryan Loder who’s an All-American wrestler.
“All this big hype with ‘Fluffy’ has come in the last two years. He’s made massive gains with – they call it the grappling boys. They come in and they have all these big guys, and they just do rounds. He’s got high-level training that’s taken his game to the next level. I know he believes in himself.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Hall of Famer names biggest threat to Khamzat Chimaev’s title
