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Khamzat Chimaev has the look of a dominant champion. | Getty/UFC
Robert Whittaker doesn’t think Khamzat Chimaev has any serious threats at middleweight.
Nassourdine Imavov announced himself as the next middleweight contender with a win over Caio Borralho in the main event at UFC Paris last Saturday. However, Whittaker doesn’t think Imavov — or anyone else — can dethrone Chimaev anytime soon. “Bobby Knuckles” believes the key to beating Chimaev is elite jiu-jitsu, which he doesn’t think Imavov possesses.
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Whittaker: Jiu-Jitsu Key to Defeating Chimaev
“I don’t know how anyone beats Khamzat at the moment,” Whittaker said on the MMA Arcade podcast. “His wrestling is so high-level. I feel like the way to beat him is with high-level jiu-jitsu. If Imavov has high-level back jiu-jitsu, which I know he doesn’t – but if it’s that high level, like Gilbert Burns high-level, then maybe we’ll see something… Anything can happen though — maybe Chimaev dives into a knee or foot.”
Chimaev beat Whittaker at UFC 308 last year to earn his title shot. “Borz” submitted Whittaker, breaking his teeth with a brutal face crank, although the Australian claimed they were already compromised.
Meanwhile, another potential contender is expected to emerge from the UFC Vancouver headliner between Anthony Hernandez and Reinier de Ridder in October. However, Imavov has dismissed the notion of the winner of that fight jumping ahead of him for a title shot.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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