Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has backed Khamzat Chimaev to beat Colby Covington in the race to the gold.
The top-ranked welterweight contender Chimaev is coming off an impressive win over former rival Kevin Holland this past Saturday. He was scheduled to make his main event debut against grizzled veteran Nate Diaz but needed to shuffle opponents after he came in overweight at 178.5 pounds, a massive seven and a half pounds over the agreed nontitle fight limit of 171 pounds.
Chimaev added another first-round finish to his resume without taking a single significant strike, a feat he achieved for the fourth time under the banner.
Former UFC fighter turned commentator and analyst Bisping took to his YouTube channel to share his thoughts on Chimaev’s latest victory. He laid out Chimaev’s road to the title and favored “Borz” over former interim 170-pound titleholder Covington.
“Right now on the throne is Leon Edwards,” Bisping said. “There would probably be a rematch with Kamaru Usman so there would have to be somebody in the interim for Khamzat Chimaev. Who’s that going to be? Well, if you ask me, I think Colby Covington ticks all the boxes. He’s very well known, he’s a massive star, and it’d be a really tough test.
“If Khamzat Chimaev could beat him, which I probably would bet on him to do so. Of course, the cardio may be an issue certainly in a five-round fight, but if Khamzat could pull that off then it would have to be a welterweight title fight next.”
Bisping Thinks It’s Unfair To Judge Chimaev Harshly for the Missed Weight
Chimaev faced a lot of heat from the community for missing weight and did not appear to care as he flipped off his middle fingers at the cameras. Bisping believes that Chimaev should not be judged so harshly and referenced the times former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov fell short of the same task.
“Of course, he missed weight at the weekend, very badly,” Bisping said. “He came in at 7.5 pounds over and a lot of people are saying that he needs to be forced to move up to middleweight. I don’t necessarily think so.
“Khabib Nurmagomedov, the lightweight GOAT, some people have him as the greatest of all time, he missed weight or was forced to stop cutting weight four times. He still became the champ, the lightweight GOAT. So, the fact that Khamzat came in and missed weight one time, to be making those kinds of statements so far, it’s not really fair if you compare him against Khabib.”
Bisping Believes Chimaev Will Be the First Three-Division Champion
While there have been two-division champions, with Conor McGregor inaugurating the ‘champ-champ’ club, there has never been a three-division champion in the UFC. “The Count” believes that Chimaev has the necessary tools to become the first fighter in the promotion to win titles in three weight classes, presumably welterweight, middleweight, and light heavyweight.
“Can Khamzat Chimaev become the UFC’s first-ever three-division champion? That’s a tall order but you got to dream big and he said that he’s here to smash everybody. I’m telling you I think there is a way he could do that. Now, you’re probably thinking Bisping’s being sold the hype, he’s drinking the kool-aid, he’s riding his d***, whatever you want to say. But I’m telling you there is a very good possibility.”
“He’s had six fights in the UFC. Other than the fight with Gilbert Burns, he’s only absorbed two strikes. That is ridiculous, that is the type of guy we are dealing with here and that’s why I think we might see him go out there and become a three-weight division champion.”
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Unbeaten UFC Monster Backed To Eliminate Colby Covington From Title Contention