Right now? Obviously Ankalaev. Or at any previous moment he had since he went to LHW. Or Aspinall. Alex likes to tease a fight with Aspinall and tease a move to HW, but so far it's only talk and a whole lot of strikers he has fought, and most of the time enjoying a good size advantage.
Or Chimaev, called him out to fight at 205. Khamzat said yes. Nothing.
But people obviously will blame Khamzat for that fight not happening. And I think because of threads like these, (no offense
@Substance Abuse , I don't think that it's your intention at all. I'm not blaming you. It's more the effect of many threads, not any single one) people start to make him more heroic and infallible, than what I believe to be true. Honestly, I think many people have a crush on the guy, to be completely honest. Which is completely fine with me, but if they can't be honest with themselves about it. They probably also can't really see how their feels are influencing their thinking
Dude is close to the epitome of manliness in many ways so I understand why people are drawn to him.
For me the sport is just always bigger, than any one fighter. And subverting the process of finding out who is truly the best fighter in the moment, or for legacy's sake, by shielding yourself or being shielded by others from the kind of obstacles others do have to face, is not a small issue.