Sean O’Malley shares prediction for potential Alex Pereira vs. Khamzat Chimaev title fight: “I’d put money on Khamzat if they fought”

Sean O’Malley has opened up on who he thinks would win a potential fight between Alex Pereira and Khamzat Chimaev.

At UFC 281, Pereira became the new middleweight champion as he scored a fifth-round TKO over Israel Adesanya. To no surprise, after the win, Chimaev took to social media to call the Brazilian out. He also told Pereira to sign the contract to fight him at UFC 282, which obviously isn’t going to happen.

However, after the callout, many began wondering how the fight would play out, and O’Malley believes Chimaev’s grappling would be too much for Pereira.

“Khamzat could f**k Alex up… That left hand is nasty, but if I had to put money on Alex vs. Khamzat I’d put it on Khamzat… He can grapple big scary guys like that. I’d put money on Khamzat if they fought… His grappling is good, and he can knock motherf***ers out,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel (via Sportskeeda).

Although Alex Pereira vs. Khamzat Chimaev would be a big fight, it doesn’t seem likely it will happen next. Pereira will likely rematch Adesanya in his first title defense while Dana White has said he wants Chimaev to face Colby Covington. Along with that, Chimaev would likely need to get a win over a top-five middleweight to earn a title shot against Pereira.

As for Sean O’Malley, he’s coming off the biggest win of his career as he defeated Petr Yan by split decision at UFC 280. Following the win, he has said he will be fighting for the title next time out, and will likely return in July. Before the win over Yan, he had the No Contest against Pedro Munhoz. He entered that Munhoz fight on a three-fight win streak with knockout wins over Raulian Paiva, Kris Moutinho, and Thomas Almeida.

Do you agree with Sean O’Malley that Khamzat Chimaev would beat Alex Pereira?