Darren Till weighed in on the possibility of seeing his friend Khamzat Chimaev collide with the newly crowned champion Alex Pereira.
Pereira done the unthinkable this past Saturday and claimed the UFC middleweight championship by dethroning Israel Adesanya. Unthinkable to many, but the Brazilian was filled with confidence having previously defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing.
Chimaev exploded onto the scene in 2020 and already has six victories to his name under the organisation. The Chechen’s eagerness to compete in not only one weight class but two have made him one of the fastest-rising stars in the sport. Entering the UFC competing at welterweight, Chimaev has also fought at a higher weight twice before. After missing weight against Nate Diaz at UFC 279, a permanent move to middleweight could be on the horizon.
After Pereira grabbed the middleweight title with four fights in the company, Chimaev wanted a piece of him.
https://twitter.com/KChimaev/status/1591666715867455488
https://twitter.com/KChimaev/status/1591673433326231554
Chimaev called for a fight with Pereira on Twitter with several Tweets. The undefeated 28-year-old sees a clear path to victory, given the champ’s lack of wrestling skills.
Darren Till, a close friend of Chimaev, recently gave his take on if a fight was to materialise between the pair on Michael Bisping’s Youtube channel.
“Rest in peace and I don’t want to say his name because it’s a very sad day, but Rumble Johnson, I just want to give me condolences, but I’m actually going to give the example of him because he has the best example of it,” he said. “That man only had to touch a little finger on your head and you’d be knocked out. So I think Pereira has got sort of that type of thing. His wrestling is, you know, obviously, he’s young in the sport. I mean, I’ve seen that Khamzat called him out and I was like, oh my God, Khamzat will definitely take him down within 30 seconds. Okay, it’s a fight but, like that’s not a fight that Pereira is ready for.” Till told Bisping
If a fight was to materialise between Khamzat Chimaev and Alex Pereira, how do you anticipate it unfolding? Do you agree with Darren Till? Let us know!