Khamzat Chimaev did not simply win the middleweight championship final Saturday within the UFC 319 fundamental occasion. He made an announcement to the division by totally 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 dwelling within the period of Khamzat Chimaev,” Bisping mentioned on his YouTube channel. “I am not going to take a seat right here and criticize Dricus Du Plessis. I feel he is an unimaginable fighter and an important champion and he could very nicely be again, however proper now we’re dwelling within the period of Khamzat Chimaev.”
Bisping does not assume Chimaev being champion will probably be good for the burden 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 will probably be a catastrophe with Khamzat Chimaev because the champion,” Bisping mentioned. “I do not imply due to what Din Thomas mentioned. Thomas was like, ‘he is not going to have the ability to battle too incessantly. He struggles with visas and stuff like that.’ No. Once I mentioned it is a catastrophe, it is a catastrophe for the division as a result of from what I see there, ain’t no person, ain’t no person, other than Reinier de Ridder, ain’t no person beating him.
“Reinier de Ridder is the one man that has a shot due to the jiu-jitsu, due to the talents he has off his again.”
Associated: Israel Adesanya reacts to Khamzat Chimaev changing into middleweight champ: ‘The division is in good palms’
Whereas Bisping believes de Ridder creates an attention-grabbing matchup, he does not see the Chimaev dropping the title anytime quickly.
“That is going to be in all probability a really lengthy and dominant reign within the middleweight division,” Bisping mentioned. “I do not assume we have ever seen a dominant wrestler like Khamzat Chimaev within the middleweight division. Sometimes 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 a number of instances to be honest.”
