Are you a fan of Khamzat Chimaev?

[Paolo Delutis]

I've been a fan since I first notice him in the UFC. How about you guys?

.

I wouldn't consider myself a fan or ever being his fan yet..

Dude just hasnt done anything yet for the hype he gets...

And u add how he handled the weight cut incident and his pro Hamas stance .

Not sure i can be at this point ...

Hes got that far east villain quality to him...vs someone like Khabib who also can be harsh at times was still viewed more as a good guy ...

 

[Unheralded Truth]

His fighting style is really not that special to me IMHO and with all of the bells/whistles of his hype aside, he's just another grappler who actually has below average cardio compared to other elite grapplers. Sure he has fairly heavy hands and will engage in the standup but he's still a fairly sloppy/awkward striker IMO.

As much as I don't like/understand the hype for Sean O'Malley, I at least feel like he has excelled with the chances he was given as he was thrown to the wolves pretty quickly. Khamzat has been hyped as a killer for nearly 4 years and was not overly impressive in either of his fights against top 10 opponents. He still feels like a question mark at this point so it's very annoying to hear his fans act like he's a future GOAT

This was an interesting part of your post. As somebody "on the other side" who is impressed by the guy, I'll try to explain what it's about.

It's basically how fast he got these step-ups but still came out as the winner, surprising his opponents every time. After a year away from competition, where he only could rehabilitate from covid-19 effects.

His 10th fight ever in MMA was against a UFC #12 ranked Jingliang, and the guy just dominated. Doesn't happen every day, after all. And the 11th fight was a jump to #3 ranked Gilbert Burns, in an epic battle that the fans loved. Then recently Usman as a former champ (who beat Burns) and who's wrestling was supposed to be the kryptonite, and Khamzat was able to take him down with just one functioning hand. That was mental and showed us his heart, as well as his elite technique.

 

[Edward Henry Greb]

I used to be a fan, now I'm pulling for his opponent. Wanted Usman to win.

If he faces Costa, I'm going to be pulling for Costa.

Don't like Khamzat's personality at all.

It was the same way with McGregor.

Used to be a fan, then his personality changed that, and I also realized Conor was a front-running quitter.
Enjoyed watching him lose and quit, every time, after that.

I have the feeling Khamzat is going to be the same way.
A certain amount of talent, but I think he's going to fold in some big fights, and I will enjoy it every time he loses, like I did with Conor.

 

[Deleted member 517683]

Overhyped fighters are incredibly difficult to get behind and his "rise" was one of the least impressive. At least Houston Alexander beat a top 10 opponent in his debut ffs.

However, even disregarding his INCREDIBLY obnoxious "fans", he himself is a pretty dislikable person. Misses weight, hides behind a ton of excuses, spends more time talking crap online than actually fighting, is extremely entitled despite still not having achieved that much in a now 4 year UFC career, and he just reeks of being a future "rank squatter" who will not be an active champion if he gets the belt/will likely hold up divisions with bs.

Combine all of that with him being a fighter the UFC has clearly been trying to cram down our throats, no... have never been a fan and will not become a fan in the future even if his success continues.

His fighting style is really not that special to me IMHO and with all of the bells/whistles of his hype aside, he's just another grappler who actually has below average cardio compared to other elite grapplers. Sure he has fairly heavy hands and will engage in the standup but he's still a fairly sloppy/awkward striker IMO.

As much as I don't like/understand the hype for Sean O'Malley, I at least feel like he has excelled with the chances he was given as he was thrown to the wolves pretty quickly. Khamzat has been hyped as a killer for nearly 4 years and was not overly impressive in either of his fights against top 10 opponents. He still feels like a question mark at this point so it's very annoying to hear his fans act like he's a future GOAT

This.
Thanks for pointing out exactly what I would have said....

 

[IDGETKTFO]

Negative. Not a fan of terrorist sympathizers.

 

[richardjohnson]

Of course. Anyone who isn’t should probably find a different sport.

 

[Last Falconry]

not really, mostly because the amount and tenor of discussion about him is wildly disproportionate to how often or impressively he fights

 

[Uber_Noober]

 

[Xanzito]

Never been a fan of Lippy McTwitter.

 

[Lawrence]

I've been a fan since I first notice him in the UFC. How about you guys?

I look forward to seeing his fights.

I get pissed when he fucks around and doesn't fight.

If you really enjoy watching a dude fight even though you are not rooting for him; does that make you a fan anyhow ?

 

[FreddieRoachsVoice]

This was an interesting part of your post. As somebody "on the other side" who is impressed by the guy, I'll try to explain what it's about.

It's basically how fast he got these step-ups but still came out as the winner, surprising his opponents every time. After a year away from competition, where he only could rehabilitate from covid-19 effects.

His 10th fight ever in MMA was against a UFC #12 ranked Jingliang, and the guy just dominated. Doesn't happen every day, after all. And the 11th fight was a jump to #3 ranked Gilbert Burns, in an epic battle that the fans loved. Then recently Usman as a former champ (who beat Burns) and who's wrestling was supposed to be the kryptonite, and Khamzat was able to take him down with just one functioning hand. That was mental and showed us his heart, as well as his elite technique.

*Former champion who was not training for a fight, is nearly 37 years old, coming off of 2 losses where he was rocked numerous times/KO'd by a notoriously passive fighter, had never been at that weight class before, and yet still arguably won? Sorry but the name on his resume certainly doesn't sound as impressive when viewed in context. The fact that Khamzat was far more tired than a guy 8 years his senior who didn't have a training camp is extremely worrisome and that cannot be debated. The excuse of the damaging weight cut to 170 is over... the guy's cardio is officially suspect and that doesn't bode well for upcoming 5 round fights.

Also, I noticed you didn't mention anything about his actual performance against Burns and just said "the fans loved the fight". Great... but is a razor thin decision over a guy who spent the vast majority of his career at 155 really that relevant for a guy who is now competing at 185 pounds? Burns is a very good fighter but him beating Woodley (who went winless for the rest of his career) didn't suddenly turn him into a world beater. Same goes for the guys who got sloppy seconds on Tony Ferguson's corpse at 155 (looking at you Dariush). Burns has been beaten in much more convincing fashion MANY times prior to this by guys significantly smaller than Khamzat. If this is one of his 2 big "credibility" performances, he certainly didn't pass the test with flying colors.

And LOL @ propping up the Li win as some great feat. Ranked #12... in a paper thin era of the division where even the top guys were all sharing the same credibility wins (Maia, RDA, Woodley). Name 1 notable thing Li has EVER done in his mma career except get completely annihilated by a popular fighter? Might as well list Marcus Brimage as one of Conor McGregor's notable wins I mean he was 3-0 at the time <Lmaoo>

Khamzat might still pan out as a top guy and he might not (I mean 185 isn't exactly loaded with talent in modern day either) but I truly can't see how anyone can say with a straight face that this guy has lived up to the hype.

Even the UFC (who is DESPERATE for stars and has a MW champ they'd surely love to get the belt off of) acknowledged this by quietly doing away with the "title eliminator" talk after the Usman fight knowing that Khamzat did not look ready. I'm sure he'll get a cushy fight against someone he can easily stop so they can milk one more payday off of him before he gasses/gets exposed in a title fight but if we're talking about buying stock in this guy's success long term, Khamzat is a definite "SELL" IMHO

 

[TempleoftheDog]

No, but I’m only the “fan” of a select group of fighters. It’s not based on wins or losses. Or whether I think they will become a champion. It’s about how they present themselves. It’s about heart. It’s about respect. It’s about not being a fucking douchebag that fights more on Twitter than in the octagon.

I’m neutral on most of the roster. But there are some fighters I detest. I like a lot of fighters, and hope they win.

But I only cheer for a select group of men, and women. Those are the fighters I’m a “fan” of.

4 are retired now. So I’m always looking out for the next fighter to be a fan of. I like to have about 5 of each gender at any one time. But the criteria is not easy. Very few make it onto my fav list.

 

[calavera2]

Nah he's a cunt...only watch to see if he loses

 

[Unheralded Truth]

*Former champion who was not training for a fight, is nearly 37 years old, coming off of 2 losses where he was rocked numerous times/KO'd by a notoriously passive fighter, had never been at that weight class before, and yet still arguably won?

...but is a razor thin decision over a guy who spent the vast majority of his career at 155 really that relevant for a guy who is now competing at 185 pounds? Burns is a very good fighter but him beating Woodley (who went winless for the rest of his career) didn't suddenly turn him into a world beater. Same goes for the guys who got sloppy seconds on Tony Ferguson's corpse at 155 (looking at you Dariush). Burns has been beaten in much more convincing fashion MANY times prior to this by guys significantly smaller than Khamzat.

And LOL @ propping up the Li win as some great feat. Ranked #12... in a paper thin era of the division where even the top guys were all sharing the same credibility wins (Maia, RDA, Woodley). Name 1 notable thing Li has EVER done in his mma career except get completely annihilated by a popular fighter? Might as well list Marcus Brimage

Right, I can see why we think so differently about his performances. Because for me it was interesting to see how he would fare against tougher and tougher opposition, as somebody without a large amount of experience.

In my mind there's a big difference between Rhys McKee and Jingliang, but since he was so dominant it made sense to start taking on the ranked guys already. Am I correct now in that you have Rhys and Li on basically the same level, that it wasn't much of a step-up? I think that explains it all. I mean to me the jump from Li to Burns was also a pretty big one, as Burns had beaten Nelson, Maia, Woodley, Wonderboy and started off well against Usman too in their title fight. Not really comparable to where Li was at resume-wise, so I don't know, to me at least this was a great test and one that he passed.

I guess the thing is that I can't look down on Gilbert like that, as if he wasn't on a brand new level for the inexperienced Chimaev. While you are unimpressed by him overall, so we just have different standards for who is good and who's not that good. It is what it is, lol.

 

[El Fernas]

Not really, that doesnt mean i wont care if he fights, i just dont care for interviews or anything he has to say, he fights he is must watch MMA, i just dont care for anything else.

 

[chinarice]

Overhyped fighters are incredibly difficult to get behind and his "rise" was one of the least impressive. At least Houston Alexander beat a top 10 opponent in his debut ffs.

However, even disregarding his INCREDIBLY obnoxious "fans", he himself is a pretty dislikable person. Misses weight, hides behind a ton of excuses, spends more time talking crap online than actually fighting, is extremely entitled despite still not having achieved that much in a now 4 year UFC career, and he just reeks of being a future "rank squatter" who will not be an active champion if he gets the belt/will likely hold up divisions with bs.

Combine all of that with him being a fighter the UFC has clearly been trying to cram down our throats, no... have never been a fan and will not become a fan in the future even if his success continues.

His fighting style is really not that special to me IMHO and with all of the bells/whistles of his hype aside, he's just another grappler who actually has below average cardio compared to other elite grapplers. Sure he has fairly heavy hands and will engage in the standup but he's still a fairly sloppy/awkward striker IMO.

As much as I don't like/understand the hype for Sean O'Malley, I at least feel like he has excelled with the chances he was given as he was thrown to the wolves pretty quickly. Khamzat has been hyped as a killer for nearly 4 years and was not overly impressive in either of his fights against top 10 opponents. He still feels like a question mark at this point so it's very annoying to hear his fans act like he's a future GOAT

You trying to imply that Houston Alexander has more impressive wins than Khamzat?

O'Malley thrown to the wolves pretty quickly? lol wut? He wasn't "Thrown to the wolves" any faster than Khamzat was.

 

[HaulParris]

I'm not a fan anymore. I respect his skills, and was intrigued / impressed with him based on how easily he dispatched GM3 and The Leech. But the last 2 years of being a twitter warrior (while underperforming in the cage) and his super close relationship with kadyrov* has really changed my mind.

* I do realize that if kadyrov decides to be his friend, Khamzat doesn't really have a choice but to agree.

 

[sandokan83]

He is a fearless dude. Was born in a brutal society etc. However, he has been revealed to be an idiot too.

 

[Jfreemandrums]

Im not a fan of cherry pickers who fight once every 3 years

>guy gets famous for having the fastest 3 consecutive fights in UFC history
>cherry picker

Excellent troll sir, bravo

 

[FreddieRoachsVoice]

You trying to imply that Houston Alexander has more impressive wins than Khamzat?

O'Malley thrown to the wolves pretty quickly? lol wut? He wasn't "Thrown to the wolves" any faster than Khamzat was.

Going from a lackluster NC over Munhoz (who had lost 4 of his last 5 leading up to it and was clearly designed to be a resumer padder win) to fighting who many would argue was the uncrowned champ at the time in Petr Yan was a bigger jump up than ANYTHING that happened in Khamzat's career. I'm sorry but fighting a no-training camp Usman was not the impressive feat everyone makes it out to be... it's not like the roles were reversed and Khamzat edged out a gutsy win on short notice. He was the guy with the full training camp so it's pretty embarrassing he was in far worse shape after 3 rounds

Also, you're reaching with the Houston interpretation. Houston Alexander got massively hyped to the moon for stopping a top 10 fighter (who went on to beat the most recent ex champ in his next fight) and followed it up with another brutal KO over a striker to show it wasn't a fluke.

Although the hype for Houston completely (and rightfully) fell off a cliff after this, it was a FAR more noteworthy start to a UFC career than Khamzat's as was Sokoudjou KO'ing Little Nog and Ricardo Arona in Pride who were both top 10 guys.

I to this day have no idea why such a big deal was made about Khamzat crushing 2 cans in 10 days. He had a full training camp! Jason Brilz walked off his couch on a few weeks notice and took Little Nog to a split decision. Pat Cummins was a barista with zero UFC fights coming off nearly a year layoff and he still stepped up against DC on extremely short notice.

And if you want victories, Chris Leben TKO'd undefeated division 1 wrestler Aaron Simpson and submitted top 10 MW Sexyama with a freakin triangle choke on 2 weeks notice less than a month later in the 3rd round which is a FAR more impressive feat than Khamzat smashing 2 nobodies instead of 1.

I'm sorry but who really gives a crap about this "record" turnaround when the level of competition was terrible? Hundreds of fighters have fought numerous opponents in a single night so it's laughable that people got so wound up in this marketing ploy. Dan Henderson AKA longtime middleweight Dan Henderson beat Gilbert Yvel, Minotauro Nogueira, and Babalu in 1 NIGHT (aka 2 HWs and a LHW) ffs. Oh and all 3 wins were by decision so he fought for a total of 7 rounds and won when Khamzat gasses after 1.

If you haven't figured out you're just shamelessly buying into the hype machine by now, you are hopeless. Hope you get some nice Venum gear for Christmas <Lmaoo><Lmaoo><Lmaoo>