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Khamzat Chimaev vs Anderson Silva: GSP’s coach drops bold take on UFC 319 champ

Originally posted on HITC | By Harvey Leonard | Last updated Aug 22, 2025 9:06 AM ET

Georges St-Pierre’s longtime trainer is not holding back with his praise of Khamzat Chimaev after UFC 319.

Chimaev, who remains unbeaten, capped off his rise to the top of the division by headlining Saturday’s pay-per-view card at United Center in Chicago.

The fight followed a string of explosive finishes on the main card but played out very differently. Chimaev took control early and never looked back, shutting down Du Plessis over five one-sided rounds. Both men entered the cage undefeated in UFC competition, but by the end there was little doubt about who belonged at the top.

The response to Chimaev’s performance was split. Some praised his total dominance, while others knocked him for not pushing harder to get the finish. But there is no doubt which side of the debate this man is on…

Khamzat Chimaev named ‘greatest middleweight ever’ by Georges St-Pierre’s coach

That result marked only his third fight at 185 pounds since moving up from welterweight, where his missed weight at UFC 279 effectively ended his title hopes in that division.

Chimaev narrowly edged past Kamaru Usman before earning a brutal submission victory over Robert Whittaker, which set up the title shot he capitalised on at UFC 319.

Despite having just three fights in the weight class and a newly won title, coach Firas Zahabi has already handed Chimaev a massive endorsement.

“Khamzat is the greatest middleweight ever,” Zahabi said in a video uploaded to the Tristar Gym YouTube channel. “I could put him against anyone in the middleweight division, and I’d pick Khamzat any day. Adesanya, DDP, Anderson Silva in his prime — forget about it. None of them can hold a candle to him.

“He’s the Khabib (Nurmagomedov) of the middleweight division,” Zahabi added. “This guy hasn’t even reached his prime yet.”

Khamzat Chimaev still not in UFC’s top three pound-for-pound rankings

Even with Zahabi’s bold claim that Chimaev is the greatest middleweight ever, the win wasn’t enough to move him past a few established names in the promotion.

Following his victory in Chicago, Chimaev moved up to No. 4 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings. That placed him above fighters like flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall, and featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski.

Still, ‘Borz’ remains behind two other champions – No. 1 Ilia Topuria and No. 3 Merab Dvalishvili – as well as Islam Makhachev, who currently doesn’t hold a title.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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