Why Joe Rogan is wrong about Reinier de Ridder posing the biggest threat to Khamzat Chimaev

The for and against of Reinier de Ridder being the biggest threat to Khamzat Chimaev

When speaking during the UFC 319 broadcast about who could challenge Khamzat Chimaev, Joe Rogan highlighted Reinier de Ridder’s strengths.

The long-time commentator wasn’t wrong that ‘RDR’ does possess a skillset that will lead to some interesting questions if he’s matched up with the champion.

His 13 wins by submission and knees that de Ridder used effectively against Robert Whittaker would seemingly be two valuable weapons when facing Chimaev.

However, as Chimaev recently spoke about when reflecting on his title win against Dricus du Plessis, he didn’t give the South African a chance to do anything that he’d been working on.

We’ve seen de Ridder be a very effective hammer inside the Octagon, walking his opponents down and dictating the pace.

While his two career defeats may have come against a much larger opponent in Anatoly Malykhin, the Dutchman, while still an elite middleweight, didn’t look nearly as at home when he couldn’t force his approach.

Again, he does pose some interesting challenges to Chimaev, but Joe Rogan’s words exact words were, “Reinier de Ridder in particular,” when Jon Anik mentioned the middleweight division being home to some strong grapplers.

Not to mention that, while we didn’t see much of it last time out, the undefeated champion isn’t afraid to test his striking.

Why Anthony Hernandez is the most interesting challenger for Khamzat Chimaev

While there are arguments that can be made for the likes of Reinier de Ridder, Nassourdine Imavov and Sean Strickland, Anthony Hernandez is the most interesting challenge for Khamzat Chimaev.

He may not have a signature attack like de Ridder’s knees or creative submission skills, but he makes up for that in two areas.

Hernandez’s biggest weapons, especially in a fight with Chimaev, are his cardio and his mentality.

We’ve seen ‘Fluffy’ break opponents inside the Octagon and he does that with his relentless gas tank and by constantly wanting to make them pay for anything they do.

Of course, there’s a chance that Chimaev’s grappling could simply be too high level and he’d trap Hernandez on the floor like he did to Dricus du Plessis.

The counter to that is there might still be some questions surrounding Chimaev’s cardio despite going five rounds with du Plessis because nearly every minute of that fight played out with him in top position.

If there’s anyone in the division that can survive difficult rounds without being discouraged and force Chimaev into a brawl like Gilbert Burns did, it’s ‘Fluffy’.