News Alex Pereira offered to fight Khamzat Chimaev in Rio 283 at 205, Chimaev denied per @mmafighting

[infokuss]

A great fight.
A super fight. No title on the line. Alex can take a risk fighting a young phenom without risking his belt. And likely make it a PPV.
For Zhat, it's an exciting way to beat a champ. If he did win, the opportunity to rematch at MW will open up.
Nate Vs Connor 1: elevated both fighters. No title on the line, different weight classes, but both fighters benefitted greatly.
It's intriguing being at LHW. I wish stuff like this would actually happen.

Fair argument, but if Im Khamzat im thinking I go up two weight divisions where if I lose, I effectively lose a title shot both at 170, and at 185. This just seems like a bad risk no matter how bad ass you think you are.

 

[FIghtxIQ]

Fair argument, but if Im Khamzat im thinking I go up two weight divisions where if I lose, I effectively lose a title shot both at 170, and at 185. This just seems like a bad risk no matter how bad ass you think you are.

He wouldn't lose the shot, if he won he would secure a title shot at MW by having a win over the MW champion - the narrative is there. Fights in other divisions won't affect his ranking at WW or MW. It's why Khamzat wanted to fight Burns at MW so his WW ranking stays in place and isn't affected.

 

[DelanoRunnymede]

I love how everyone is reacting to this emotionally and not seeing the obvious BS from Alex's side. 205? why? Thats desperation.

Why would you challenge a 185'er (a 185'er who made 170 multiple times before) to a fight at 205 unless you are desperate for an advantage?

he can’t make 185 so quickly after just doing it he said.

 

[MMonk]

They’re an ethnicity of Russia. Just like the natives of the United States.

They are a part of Russia as a country.
But they have their own ethnicity and language.

So, Chimaev is a Chechen living in Sweden, so he is nor Russian by nationality,
nor by country affiliation.

 

[chinarice]

What the hell would be the point of fighting Alex at 205?

There is no point but Sherdoggers hate Khamzat and Pereira is the new flavor of the month so he can do nor say anything wrong.

Pereira wouldn't put that 185 belt on the line against Khamzat. He knows he'd get the Kevin Holland treatment and wants to have all the advantages possible.

This shit is super normal and Sherdoggers are about as biased as any fan in any sport ever.

 

[dildos]

canzat is a chicken.

he knows he would get absolutely killed.

 

[cshireman4]

He called out the MW champion while being UNRANKED at 185. Khamzat DOES NOT DESERVE a title shot at 185. Period. Izzy is next in line with an immediate rematch, and not even Robert Whittaker can cut the line. Even if Izzy declines his rematch, Whittaker, Costa, Vettori are all ahead of Khamzat for a 185 title shot. Get it through your thick: Khamzat isn't fighting for the 185 title.

Khamzat even calling out the champ is childish and immature. He knows Pereira can't give him that fight, because the UFC & top 10 middleweight challengers won't allow it. Hell, Marvin Vettori offered to fight Khamzat. Khamzat should take that fight and shut the fuck up.

Hate to even dignify this level of stupidity with a response, but...nowhere did I say that Khamzat was deserving of a title fight at 185. If you can point to a time when the opinions of the top ten of any division factored into who got the next title shot, I'll happily wait for you to make your case. By your own logic, Alex himself wasn't deserving of a title shot against Izzy. If you need Khamzat to beat fucking Sean Strickland to deem him worthy of a TS, I'm sure he'd happily oblige. As the UFC has shown time and time again, if it makes dollars, it makes sense.

All of that aside, the actual points I was making that you seemed to miss entirely with your longwinded rant against arguments I never even made is:

1. They are both just looking out for themselves. Obviously. Despite your whining about the callout, Pereira did acknowledge it with a response. Offering to take the fight at 205 because it allows him to cash in on Khamzat's hype without jeopardizing anything at 185. Look at Izzy vs Jan. Same thing. Khamzat, also looking out for numero uno, saw a one dimensional striker get the belt at MW, one of the two weight classes he competes at. With a grapple-heavy style, this matchup presents a great opportunity for him.

2. The hypocrisy of sherdog. Khamzat was sherdog's boy. The uncrowned GOAT. Kill everybody, brudda. Then he missed weight. Izzy has always had his share of hate on sherdog, so when Alex transitioned to MMA, it presented sherdog with a new dick to ride. Now newly hated Khamzat has a headline involving himself and newly loved Pereira. Sherdog loses their shit. Predictable, but ignorant as hell nonetheless. No one was in the wrong here. Khamzat had every right to make the callout. If you want to cry about Khamzat's callout, you should at least be equally upset that your MW champ, who is only 4-0 in the UFC and less than a month away from getting the MW belt, is now entertaining the idea of fighting a WW/MW at 205.

 

[cshireman4]

If he want's to fight for the belt at 185, he needs to at least beat a ranked guy, preferably in the top 5. I think he definitely has the potential to do that, so put him in there against either Vettori, Brunson, Cannonier, Costa or Whittaker, that would fast track him into a title shot, but he needs that top 10, top 5 win first!

Agreed. I think he just saw an opportunity for a good stylistic matchup. I wasn't arguing for or against the merit of Khamzat as a title challenger at 185. Just hate to see all of sherdog turn on the guy while going tonsils deep on Alex. In 2022, there is absolutely no downside in making brash callouts. You might not get the fight just because you called for it, but you damn sure won't get it if you stay quite and wait in line. Can Khamzat just fight Andreas Michailidis, Bruno Silva, Sean Strickland and then get a title shot? That's the path that Poatan took. All of these guys that keep getting brought up are the same fighters the current MW champ leapfrogged to get his TS. Why? Because narratives sell fights.

The fact that Pereira offered to fight at 205 says it all. Why not just ignore the callout entirely? He knows Khamzat presents some problems for him and he knows he is a cash cow. Hedge against a potential loss by fighting at a different weight class and still make that money. I like Khamzat, Izzy and Pereira. All masters of their craft. Not you specifically, but Sherdog in general, likes to find its moral compass and preach about merit when its convenient for them. (IE We currently hate Khamzat and currently love Pereira. Khamzat is a bum, Alex is a savior, etc...unironically, most of the people in the thread would have been making the exact same argument in favor of Khamzat had Alex called out Chimaev a year ago.)

 

[13Seconds]

And just like that, Sherdog turned on Khamzat LOL fickle gossiping schoolgirls

Khamzat did it to himself.

Khamzat will call out smaller people and act like he wants to fight everyone but really when it comes to it he turns it down. Just look at his fake beef with costa where he was pretending to be held back lmao. He makes it easy for others to clown him .

 

[Busgosu]

Lol this Khamzat guy is the abe Simpson of the UFC:

 

[Canadian Kicker]

Why would Khamzat take this fight?

He wants a strap, and Alex can’t put his belt in the line if it’s at 205.

Love Alex but this just seems like him throwing shade.

Khamzat needs to decide what he wants. He is calling out Alex. If he wants to fight Alex, here's you chance. If he only wants the strap, stop calling out the champ and start calling out the top 5. Your not getting a title shot just because you think you can beat him.

 

[Young Calf Kick]

Khamzat did it to himself.

Khamzat will call out smaller people and act like he wants to fight everyone but really when it comes to it he turns it down. Just look at his fake beef with costa where he was pretending to be held back lmao. He makes it easy for others to clown him .

I thought Sherdoggers were hardcore MMA fans that didn't care for outside the cage antics and only cared about the fights?

 

[13Seconds]

I thought Sherdoggers were hardcore MMA fans that didn't care for outside the cage antics and only cared about the fights?

Well you thought wrong.

 

[ki11ian]

And why the fuck would Khamzat want to fight him at 205?

 

[Tito Tapped]

I know we aren't keen into the day-to-day negotiations that happen but somehow I'm seriously doubting the UFC was even on board with this idea. This is just marketing from the champ, which honestly is what you have to do in order to stay relevant/popular these days but he better be careful with this one. Pereira is going to shit-talk himself into having to defend his title against him for real.

 

[Givvee]

Agreed. I think he just saw an opportunity for a good stylistic matchup. I wasn't arguing for or against the merit of Khamzat as a title challenger at 185. Just hate to see all of sherdog turn on the guy while going tonsils deep on Alex. In 2022, there is absolutely no downside in making brash callouts. You might not get the fight just because you called for it, but you damn sure won't get it if you stay quite and wait in line. Can Khamzat just fight Andreas Michailidis, Bruno Silva, Sean Strickland and then get a title shot? That's the path that Poatan took. All of these guys that keep getting brought up are the same fighters the current MW champ leapfrogged to get his TS. Why? Because narratives sell fights.

The fact that Pereira offered to fight at 205 says it all. Why not just ignore the callout entirely? He knows Khamzat presents some problems for him and he knows he is a cash cow. Hedge against a potential loss by fighting at a different weight class and still make that money. I like Khamzat, Izzy and Pereira. All masters of their craft. Not you specifically, but Sherdog in general, likes to find its moral compass and preach about merit when its convenient for them. (IE We currently hate Khamzat and currently love Pereira. Khamzat is a bum, Alex is a savior, etc...unironically, most of the people in the thread would have been making the exact same argument in favor of Khamzat had Alex called out Chimaev a year ago.)

To be fair, Strickland was considered a solid top 5-6 guy, so that win propelled him into the title fight, Khamzat's best wins so far at MW is Meerschaert and John Phillips, that's why a fight against one of the guys I just mentioned would throw him into the title picture at 185. Cannonier would be easiest in terms of matchup and age, then Brunson due to age and him being the better wrestler/grappler, Vettori and Costa are tougher fights, big strong athletic guys with great chins and a lot of power, Whittaker for sure the hardest fight.

 

[cshireman4]

To be fair, Strickland was considered a solid top 5-6 guy, so that win propelled him into the title fight, Khamzat's best wins so far at MW is Meerschaert and John Phillips, that's why a fight against one of the guys I just mentioned would throw him into the title picture at 185. Cannonier would be easiest in terms of matchup and age, then Brunson due to age and him being the better wrestler/grappler, Vettori and Costa are tougher fights, big strong athletic guys with great chins and a lot of power, Whittaker for sure the hardest fight.

Propelled him into a title fight? There's a shade of gray in your black and white. Strickland is still ranked #7 and he's still the same guy who fought Alex. Two factors made that fight happen, neither of which were Sean Strickland: the history between Pereira and Adesanya and the fact that Izzy had already dogwalked the entire division. Now Pereira has the belt and he hasn't fought anyone in the top 6 except Izzy. I'll concede that that fact changes the outlook for the MW division.

In a perfect world where only merit dictates outcomes, your argument is valid. But one look at Beneil Dariush's career will tell you it isn't a perfect world that we are living in. MMA is more enjoyable when people remove the sticks from their asses imo. I'd love to see Khamzat vs Pereira. Or against Adesanya for that matter. Because I'm a fight fan and those are good fights. In the last 2 years, Costa, Vettori, Whittaker and Cannonier have all received title shots and lost. Careers don't last forever and intriguing matchups are far more appealing to me than seeing the same few guys fight in rotation over and over. I guess moping about rankings and proving your worthiness before getting a TS makes for good virtue signaling on the forums though.

 

[IrritatedTomcat]

What would be the point of fighting the 185lb champ at 205….

 

[Felya]

Khamzat will sub him in under a minute. It will be like the Kevin Holland fight with 30 less seconds.

 

[RoñaCastroJr]

LOL

Who knows what is true and what not... but I'm glad guys like Paulo and Pereira are calling Chimaev on his bullshit.

hell yeah