Khamzat Chimaev has been the most hyped prospect in the UFC for over a year now. And, to the Chechen-born Swede’s credit, he’s lived up to that hype each time he’s stepped foot in the Octagon.
After a lengthy lay-off from COVID-19, ‘Borz’ reminded everyone how dangerous he is in the welterweight division when he club and subbed the ranked Li Jingliang at UFC 267 last month.
With that win he went 10-0 on his career with the last four victories all coming in the UFC. Since then Chimaev’s name has been brought up regarding potential fights with Nate Diaz and Gilbert Burns.
However, John Kavanagh—head coach to Conor McGregor—has another name he thinks will be the perfect test for Chimaev.
He recently took to Twitter to propose a date between Chimaev and one of his other students—Gunnar Nelson.
its been very interesting watching the rise of the uber talented and charismatic @KChimaev . @ufc is coming to London in March. as a fan i’d love to see him fight @GunniNelson . short flight to london for both of them….what you guys think? @seanshelby @HalliNelson
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) November 23, 2021
“It’s been very interesting watching the rise of the uber talented and charismatic [Khamzat Chimaev],” wrote the SBG Ireland head honcho. “[UFC] is coming to London in March. As a fan I’d love to see him fight [Gunnar Nelson]. Short flight to London for both of them.”
Kavanagh also tagged UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby in his tweet.
Nelson was once a highly touted prospect in the UFC’s welterweight division. He got off to an impressive 4-0 start in the Octagon (with three submissions) in 2012-2014.
However, since a split decision loss to Rick Story broke that streak the Icelander has been inconsistent inside the cage. He choked out Brandon Thatch in 2015, but then lost a decision to Demian Maia.
After back-to-back subs over Albert Tumenov and Alan Jouban, Nelson was KO’d by Santiago Ponzinibbio in a Fight Night main event in 2017. He rebounded with a submission of Alex Oliveira a year later.
He then lost back-to-back contests to Leon Edwards and Gilbert Burns. He hasn’t appeared in the Octagon since September 2019.
Chimaev has history with SBG Ireland. The fighter claims that, back in 2018, he flew to Dublin looking to beat up Conor McGregor. Chimaev claims he had been moved to violence due to the bitter feud between McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, Chimaev said he was arrested by police before he could find ‘Notorious’.
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