Khamzat Chimaev Should Learn From These Two UFC Champs After 'Insanely Premature' Alex Pereira Callout

For a while, fans were clamoring for a superfight, and they finally have it at UFC 322 when Islam Makhachev and Jack Della Maddalena butt heads for the coveted welterweight title. But after UFC 320, where Alex Pereira beat Magomed Ankalaev to become a 2-time champion, the idea of a couple of new superfights took shape. One between Pereira and Jon Jones, and the other between the Brazilian and Khamzat Chimaev.

Jon Jones had been calling for a “legacy fight” against Alex Pereira, claiming that they’re around the same age, so fighting each other makes a lot of sense. However, on the other hand, we cannot overlook the potential impact of Pereira taking on Khamzat Chimaev, which is what the Chechen star is calling for next. However, MMA insider Luke Thomas believes that the middleweight champion may need to hold his horses and take a look at how other champions are approaching their title run.

Khamzat Chimaev’s Alex Pereira callout has been deemed ludicrous

After five years in the UFC, Khamzat Chimaev, amid many ups and downs and fight delays and cancellations, got to the apex of the sport and won UFC gold at UFC 319. He put on a clinical performance for sure, but that doesn’t immediately warrant a fight for a second belt. Claiming that fans don’t want to see Chimaev fight Alex Pereira, Luke Thomas told Submission Radio, “It’s like, who cares? You haven’t even defended the title one time. Like, what are we talking about here?”

Luke Thomas has advised Khamzat Chimaev to take inspiration from the flyweight champion and the bantamweight champion. Alexandre Pantoja and Merab Dvalishvili have been fighting one title contender after the other while putting on stellar performances. And with contenders like Nassourdine Imavov and Reinier de Ridder lurking in the title scene, ‘Borz’, according to Thomas, should look to clean out his division first because there is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to a fight against Alex Pereira.

“Look at Pantoja. He’s going for his fifth defense. Merab, his fourth. And they haven’t moved up yet,” Luke Thomas added. “This is such an absurd thing to say, especially at middleweight now, where [there are a lot of fights for Chimaev]… This seems insanely premature… By the time it is even relevant, who knows if ‘Poatan’ will be in MMA or light heavyweight at all.”