Khamzat Chimaev vs. Bo Nickal, anyone?
After UFC 319 last weekend, the MMA world is left to wonder who can stop the new, undefeated middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.
Many thought champion Dricus du Plessis would expose Chimaev’s cardio in his first title fight, but the South African was ultimately outwrestled for five rounds. Chimaev won via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44).
There are a few contenders in the middleweight division who could be next for the 15-0 Chimaev.
While discussing stylistic matchups for Chimaev, a former title challenger mentioned a top wrestler in Bo Nickal.
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Chael Sonnen on Khamzat Chimaev: ‘I really want to see him go with Bo Nickal’
On Good Good Guy / Bad Guy, Chael Sonnen was asked who he would bet on to beat Chimaev.
Nickal was one of the names that came to mind for the former UFC title challenger.
“I love the idea of Caio [Borralho] getting that opportunity,” Sonnen started out.
“I don’t want to continue down my usual road of dismissing Imavov. When Imavov got over on Izzy, he got a brand new look from me.
“But if you made me just throw one name at you, I mean, listen, not for nothing, I really want to see him go with Bo Nickal,” Sonnen said of potential challengers for Chimaev.
“That’s just personally [me].
“I understand that. We are not there,” Sonnen said of Nickal fighting Chimaev.
“I like that idea…”
Nickal (7-1) is a former three-time NCAA division I champion in collegiate wrestling. The 29-year-old suffered his first loss at UFC Des Moines when he was TKO’ed by top contender Reinier de Ridder.
Chael Sonnen names biggest title threat for Khamzat Chimaev
In a potential title eliminator, the aforementioned Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho fight each other in the main event of UFC Paris on Sept. 6.
Considering how the new champion Chimaev wants to return sooner rather than later, this leaves other contenders with a greater opportunity to fight for the title.
“I’m not dismissive to [Anthony] ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez,” Sonnen said of opponents for Chimaev.
“But the one that could offer the biggest threat from what we’ve seen in the past, and that’s going to be de Ridder,” Sonnen added.
Reinier De Ridder is a former two-division champion in ONE Championship and is coming off a five-round decision win over former champ Robert Whittaker in July. The 34-year-old is renowned for his grappling.
“One thing that Chimaev, and one of the reasons his fight with Gilbert Burns was so fun and so unusual, is he respected Gilbert’s ground game so much that he wasn’t in a huge hurry to get him there like he was Saturday against Dricus.
“I only offer you that that de Ridder’s ground game is respected in the same regard. He’s a tremendous jiu-jitsu player, but specifically from the bottom.
“So, I like RDR right now,” said Sonnen.