Khamzat Chimaev did not simply show he is nearly as good as his personal hype on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, the unbeaten middleweight contender confirmed flashes that he is probably even higher than we thought.
Within the co-main occasion of UFC 308, Chimaev (14-0) took former 185-pound champion Robert Whittaker (26-8) down within the first 15 seconds of the bout and by no means let him again to his ft. The native of Chechnya, Russia, produced a faucet out at 3:34 of Spherical 1 after Whittaker claimed the face crank utilized by Chimaev may need dislocated his jaw.
Chimaev, 30, who noticed his meteoric rise slowed in recent times as a consequence of fixed accidents and sickness, entered the combat inside Etihad Area because the No. 13-ranked middleweight within the UFC and may need exited it as the subsequent title challenger.
“I am going for the belt!” Chimaev stated. “Thanks [Whittaker], I like you my brother. You’ve gotten all the time been an image for me, you are a legend. Respect that you just took the combat with me. Nobody desires to combat with me. All of the champions are working from me.”
Whittaker, 33, was by no means capable of land a strike of any significance earlier than being taken down. The Australian veteran, who was born in New Zealand, confirmed good scrambling potential to work his manner out of weak grappling conditions on the bottom a number of occasions however couldn’t work his manner again to his ft.
Chimaev, who held firmly on Whittaker’s again throughout every scramble, finally secured what seemed to be a rear-naked choke try. However Chimaev’s grip was so robust that it grew to become a neck crank, forcing Whittaker to faucet out immediately.
KHAMZAT CHIMAEV JUST DID THAT!
@KChimaev wins by submission in Spherical 1!
[ #UFC308 | #InAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/uh0NuQd2rp
— UFC (@ufc) October 26, 2024
“I felt that it was virtually damaged,” Chimaev stated of Whittaker’s jaw. “I felt that there was one thing flawed.”
Chimaev, who will possible have to attend for former champion Sean Strickland to get the subsequent shot at Dricus du Plessis’ UFC middleweight title, didn’t disguise throughout the post-fight interview what he hopes can be his subsequent transfer.
“Dana [White], what’s flawed with UFC, man?” Chimaev stated. “Give me the belt!”
The principle occasion noticed Ilia Topuria retain his featherweight title in a shocking knockout of former champ Max Holloway.
The bout was as anticipated from the bounce with each males unloading unimaginable energy pictures by means of two rounds. After the second intermission, it appeared like Holloway was gaining momentum together with his quantity putting and head motion, which had been irritating Topuria as he marched ahead. As an alternative, Topuria flipped the script within the third spherical by forcing Holloway towards the fence and beautiful him with a straight proper hand earlier than uncorking an ideal left hook to place him down for good.
