Payment for incompetence: why Chimaev did not get closer to the title after defeating Holland at UFC 279

Khamzat Chimaev became the main star of the past week in mixed martial arts.

The Swedish fighter managed to take part in a mass brawl and fail the weigh-in, which provoked cardinal changes in the card of the main tournament in September.

And then, as if nothing had happened, he went into the cage and left no stone unturned from Kevin Holland, a bright striker who in 2020 set a middleweight record for the number of victories in one calendar year.

And all this made me think about the prospects of a native of Chechnya as a whole, and his possible transition to another division.

Chimaev's inability to meet the welterweight limit came as a shock to mixed martial arts fans around the world.

It was clearly audible both during the fight and after it, when Khamzat was booed by a good half of the arena in Las Vegas.

This was not even affected by Dana White's statements that the doctor insisted on refusing to continue the weight race, and the athlete himself was ready to continue the difficult and dangerous process.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this that the theory became extremely popular in the MMA community, according to which the fight between Chimaev and Holland was originally part of the plans of the UFC, and everything that happened before the tournament was nothing more than a staging.

And there is a rational grain here.

By itself, the battle with Kevin would hardly have attracted the same attention of the audience as the confrontation between Khamzat and the star Nate Diaz.

And this, in turn, threatened to negatively affect the performance of ticket sales and paid broadcasts.

While the resulting hype helped to attract additional interest in the event, and to implement the original plans of the matchmakers.

Allows this version and the representative of AMC Fight Nights Alexander Grebnev.

In his opinion, everything turned out too ideally for the promotion, as a result of which it causes certain suspicions.

“The layout is too perfect.

Chimaev does not make weight, but on the same card there is another person who fights at welterweight, but has experience in middleweight performances, and even conflicted with him.

You can write it off as an incredible coincidence.

But the UFC is a huge PR machine.

So I won't be surprised if someday we find out that this was all planned.

Although Dana White and his inner circle will never say so.

Because then a shadow will fall on the reputation of the promotion, ”said RT Grebnev.

One way or another, but this situation does not cancel Chimaev's problems with the weight race.

According to his coach Andreas Michael, at the start of the training camp, the athlete weighed too much and did not have time to get rid of extra pounds in advance, as a result of which he was forced to speed up the process in the last week.

And although for Khamzat himself this was the first such case since his transition to the UFC, many colleagues had previously faced the same difficulties.

Suffice it to recall Kelvin Gastelum, Johnny Hendrix and Anthony Johnson, who regularly did not fit into the division, fighters who were subsequently forced to accept and change their category.

Yes, in the case of Chimaev, we are talking about the first failed weigh-in, so there is no need to give up trying to fight at welterweight yet.

And this would be extremely illogical, because even now he is among the elite of the division up to 77 kilograms and in the near future he is able to fight for the belt.

Khamzat could well have become the first contender back in 2022, if not for the sensational outcome of the battle between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards.

The victory of the Englishman made the trilogy with the Nigerian inevitable and forced the Swede to look for other opponents.

And the questions are not only who exactly will become the next opponent of Chimaev, but in what weight the fight will take place.

The same White expressed a desire to see the battle with the participation of Khamzat in the middleweight division, while Murad Bichuev, who worked with him in Akhmat, did not share this point of view.

According to him, the Swede should focus on performances in his native weight class and continue on his way to the trophy.

Grebnev believes the same, while excluding that Borz will take a break and wait for the outcome of the duel between Usman and Edwards.

“Yes, Chimaev can wait for the rematch between Usman and Edwards to be completed, but it seems to me that he will not go for it.

First, a long downtime is not in his interests.

Secondly, he will want to prove that he is able to make 77 kilograms.

They hated him very much after he failed the weigh-in, ”Grebnev noted.

The problem is that it is not so easy to find a worthy opponent for Chimaev, a victory over which can further raise the level of his popularity.

The most logical thing seems to be to bring him to the second number of the rating Colby Covington.

However, there are plenty of pitfalls.

The American may not want to fight a young and dangerous opponent (which has already been rumored), the promotion is again at risk of being left without the main fight, and Khamzat himself is once again going through a grueling weight loss procedure in a relatively short period of time.

In this regard, it seems no less likely that Chimaev will be allowed to fight in middleweight and take another step towards the title of champion in two divisions.

The only question is who can share the octagon with him.

Now the status of Khamzat is so high that the battle with the conditional Gerald Moerschaert will no longer seem logical.

To maintain the level of excitement around his person, Chimaev needs to fight one of the stars of the category, and this may well end badly for him.

“It seems to me that now Chimaev will have a middleweight fight just to raise his popularity.

For example, with Paulo Costa.

This is a hip fight.

But these are certain risks, because the Brazilian is huge, bringing them together in a cage means taking certain risks.

It seems to me that Khamzat's record can be spoiled, ”Grebnev suggested.

In addition to Costa, several representatives of the middle division have no plans for the near future.

But most of them are either not so famous as to qualify for a fight with Chimaev, or have recently shown themselves not in the best way.

Jared Cannonier is in one of the most unwatchable title fights in recent memory, Marvin Vettori just had a three-round duel with Robert Whittaker, and Sean Strickland is Chimaev's sparring partner and is unlikely to fight him.

Therefore, the range of possible opponents is rather scarce.

The same goes for welterweight.

If we leave Covington and Usman with Edwards out of the picture, only the fight between Chimaev and Jorge Masvidal can become really large-scale, but not from the point of view of the sports component.

At one time, the American shocked the MMA world when he put an end to the career of another wrestler, Ben Askren, with one knee blow, but he is unlikely to be able to repeat this with Khamzat.

The rest of the athletes are clearly not up to the level of the Swede - both in terms of media coverage and skills.

“Now in the welterweight category it is difficult to find the same hyped fighter.

Maybe Jorge Masvidal, but he lost twice to Kamar Usman and then to Colby Covington.

Yes, there is Jeff Neil, Belal Muhammad, but a large audience does not know them, ”Grebnev agrees.

True, few people prefer Covington himself in the battle with Chimaev.

According to Bichuev, Khamzat will deal with him as easily as with Holland.

Grebnev is of the same opinion.

“I can’t argue with Murad.

This is a very cool coach and specialist who understands the sport very subtly.

Basically, I agree with him.

But I think that it will not be so easy for Chimaev to “eat up” Covington on the ground.

Still, Colby has a high level of wrestling skills.

Yes, she (wrestling. -

) is not as technical as Khamzat's, but this generally applies to American wrestling.

In this regard, it is inferior to the European and, moreover, Russian.

But I think it’s more likely that Chimaev will win by knockout than by choke or pain, ”says the AMC Fight Nights fighter.

Thus, although Chimaev once again reminded himself of himself as one of the fastest growing fighters in the UFC, his immediate prospects are not so clear.

If you fail to arrange a fight with Covington, he risks being in a difficult situation.

In order to maintain the level of popularity, he will either have to agree to a difficult fight with the conditional Costa, or demand a meeting with Masvidal.

Otherwise, he will have to put his record on the line in a duel, the success of which may not allow him to climb up the rankings or strengthen his star status.