UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen questioned Khamzat Chimaev’s biggest criticism ahead of UFC 319.
Khamzat Chimaev will look to cap off his meteoric rise in the UFC Octagon with a world title win later this month. Chimaev and UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis fight in the main event of UFC 319, a title fight that fans, pundits, and fellow fighters have discussed for years.
In addition to their similar trajectories to UFC 319, Chimaev and du Plessis share a common element of criticism throughout their careers. While Chimaev and du Plessis have blown past their competition thus far inside the Octagon, there have been times when the two stars have slowed down dramatically as the fights went on.
Chimaev is taking massive steps in upgrading his cardio ahead of UFC 319. He’s worked with former UFC champion TJ Dillashaw‘s longtime conditioning coach in hopes of presenting a marathon-approach to the upcoming title fight.
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Chael Sonnen compares Khamzat Chimaev to heavyweight legend in addressing cardio critique
Du Plessis, like Chimaev, was seen as having poor conditioning and cardio during the early parts of his career. But after undergoing nasal surgery, Du Plessis has demonstrated a consistent pace in recent wins over Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland.
A UFC Hall of Famer believes Chimaev’s perceived lack of conditioning is similar to what an MMA heavyweight legend had to deal with throughout his career.
During a recent appearance on The Bohnfire podcast, Chael Sonnen explained why critiquing Chimaev’s conditioning is a far-fetched venture.
“Chimaev has got to get him down,” Sonnen said of Chimaev.
“He can’t just go fight him in any other way. There’s this big question about Chimaev’s conditioning, and I don’t know if that’s fair. We’ve seen Chimaev get exhausted. But Fedor [Emelianenko] used to get exhausted and he never stopped. It never slowed him down. And it’s the same thing with Chimaev.
“I don’t think it’s fair to question his conditioning. I think he’s got a bunch of energy and he uses it all, which is what he’s supposed to do. That’s going to get tested and we are going to find out if that’s accurate.”
Chimaev earned the UFC middleweight title shot after recent wins over Robert Whittaker and Kamaru Usman. Before finishing Whittaker in minutes at UFC 308, Chimaev’s cardio was tested immensely against Usman in his closely-contested decision win at UFC 294.
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Despite Chimaev’s conditioning training ahead of UFC 319, another UFC Hall of Famer questions whether or not it’ll benefit the challenger inside the Octagon.
UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping believes Chimaev’s ‘sprinter’ tendencies will need to be on full display to defeat Du Plessis at UFC 319. Bisping claimed that Chimaev can’t showcase a ‘marathon runner’ and ‘sprinter’ style at the same time.
Chimaev has fought past the first round just three times in his UFC tenure, including his promotional debut win over John Phillips in July 2020. Five of Chimaev’s UFC wins finished inside Round 1.
If Chimaev isn’t able to finish Du Plessis in the first round, the UFC 319 headliner could be a back-and-forth affair and lead to one of the most closely-contested title fights in recent memory.