Khamzat Chimaev could move up to light heavyweight, says former UFC champion

UFC star Sean O’Malley believes that Khamzat Chimaev could make the move up to light heavyweight following his middleweight title triumph.

Last Saturday night, Khamzat Chimaev finally reached the top of the mountain. He defeated Dricus du Plessis via unanimous decision to win the UFC middleweight championship. He did so in the main event of UFC 319 and, in all honesty, he made it look pretty easy with a dominant display from start to finish.

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Moving forward, many have already asked the question: who can stop Khamzat Chimaev? There’s no simple answer, especially given how many strikers currently reside in the top 15 at 185 pounds. Of course, there’s always the possibility of Khamzat going in pursuit of another world title in a different weight class, but right now, everything is pretty up in the air.

In a recent reaction video to UFC 319, the aforementioned Sean O’Malley suggested that Chimaev may flirt with the idea of a move up to light heavyweight.

O’Malley’s view on Chimaev

“We just knew it was a matter of time before that dude was champ,” O’Malley said in a video on his YouTube channel.

“So what makes sense for Khamzat Chimaev? Does it make sense for him to fight at 185lbs again or is he just too dominant? Does he go up to 205lbs? (Magomed) Ankalaev is fighting Alex Pereira, even still it’s like, maybe Ankalaev (does well against) Khamzat, it could be interesting, maybe, purely on how big Ankalaev is.

“I don’t think there’s anything to break down against Sean Strickland, even Izzy (Adesanya) as much as I f—— love Izzy, (Nassourdine) Imavov, they’re all strikers dude. You have to match that skill of wrestling, he did that to one of the best grapplers in the division, DDP is no slouch on the ground.

“What a freak of nature. That is years of hard work,” O’Malley continued.

Quotes via Bloody Elbow