In a fight against someone that was supposed to be his toughest opponent yet, Khamzat Chimaev dispatched of Li Jingliang in 3 minutes and 16 seconds without Li landing a strike on him.
Khamzat instantly went for the takedown and proceeded to talk to Dana White while lifting up his opponent and securing the takedown. After 2 and a half minutes of relentless pressure and a ground and pound, Khamzat was able to lock in a rear naked choke to put Li to sleep.
Looking at that performance, I genuinely believe that Khamzat should be next in line for a title shot after Usman vs Covington next week. In four MMA fights he’s only allowed ONE strike against him, something we’ve never seen before.
Honestly speaking, I don’t know who stops this man at 170 or 185 and I won’t be surprised if he becomes a double champ in the next two years.
I think out of everyone in both divisions, Usman would be the toughest test, but I’m not even sure that Usman could put an end to Khamzat’s run. I think Khamzat would be the first person to take Usman down and although Usman is a terrific wrestler himself, I don’t think his wrestling comes close to the level of Khamzat’s.
I don’t think Izzy could stop Khamzat’s constant wrestling pressure although his ground game has improved vastly over the years.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens next with Chimaev because I won’t be surprised if he gets a title shot soon, especially after tonight’s performance.
TheWrestlingFallacy 