Outside Source
After Chimaev suffered the first loss of his professional career, the hype surrounding the former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion has dampened. Stirling recently called him a “one-trick pony” and wants Chimaev to move up to light heavyweight so they can fight.
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Why Navajo Stirling Believes Khamzat Chimaev Isn’t a Complete Fighter
While Stirling acknowledges that Chimaev would bring much attention to the 205-pound division, the unbeaten Kiwi wants to expose how “Borz” isn’t a well-rounded fighter.
“I think he’s a bit of a one-trick pony,” Stirling told Full Send MMA. “I would love to fight him. I want to test my theory against someone like that. I would love for some bigger names to come to the division that could bring some hype.”
Chimaev was undefeated and a massive betting favorite going into his first middleweight title defense against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 this past May. However, he visibly gassed out after a failed takedown attempt in the second round and completely abandoned his wrestling thereafter.
Strickland then out-landed Chimaev on the feet en route to a massive upset win via split decision. UFC CEO Dana White later claimed that Chimaev had discussed a move up to light heavyweight in the immediate aftermath of his first professional loss. However, he has since been repeatedly calling for a rematch against Strickland.
Meanwhile, Stirling has racked up five UFC wins, with two finishes, since making his Octagon debut in 2024. He is now scheduled to fight Jan Blachowicz on less than three weeks’ notice at UFC Belgrade on Aug. 1 in Serbia.
Navajo Stirling wants Khamzat Chimaev to come up to light heavyweight
“I think he’s a bit of a one trick pony. I would love to fight him, I wanna test my theory against someone like that. I would love to see bigger names in the division that could bring some hype” pic.twitter.com/L08xcGyEjX
— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma) July 27, 2026
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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