Jorge Masvidal Sounds Off on Khamzat Chimaev: “That’s not Fighting”
Jorge Masvidal is not a fan of reigning UFC middleweight titleholder Khamzat Chimaev’s wrestling and overall fight style. The former BMF kingpin believes Chimaev is scared to stand and trade and therefore prefers to hold fighters down out of fear.
Chimaev won the UFC middleweight championship last year at UFC 319 by dethroning Dricus du Plessis. “Borz” utilized his wrestling and ragdolled the South African for the majority of the five-rounder. The Chechen-born Emirati secured a control time of 21-plus minutes, landed 12 takedowns, and landed a total of 529 strikes (37 significant strikes).
Despite a dominant performance, some fans were not impressed with the snoozefest as “Borz” largely relied on wrestling. And Jorge Masvidal was definitely not impressed.
Jorge Masvidal takes digs at Khamzat Chimaev
On his podcast, Jorge Masvidal criticized the way Khamzat Chimaev fights, saying “Borz” may be the better wrestler, but that’s not really fighting. “Gamebred” opined that Chimaev often just holds opponents down out of fear, without advancing position or hunting for a finish, and instead spends rounds simply laying on them to run out the clock. Masvidal said:
“Just sit there and sniff crotches. You have a chance to strike, but you’re just holding the guy down because you’re scared they’re going to get away. Yeah, you’re a better wrestler, but that’s not fighting.”
Chimaev is going to make the first defense of his middleweight title at UFC 328 and will meet former training partner turned arch-rival, Sean Strickland.
During the same sit-down, Masvidal added that Strickland will not share the same fate as Dricus du Plessis did against Chimaev. As per the former BMF champ, “Tarzan” won’t be easy to ragdoll and hold down, and the American will tire Chimaev and challenge him in every aspect.
“Strickland might be the first guy that challenges Chimaev in that realm. Even if Chimaev gets a takedown, he’s going to have to work even harder to hold Strickland down.”
Meanwhile, on Death Row MMA, Joe Pyfer added that he wants Sean Strickland to win and is not a fan of Chimaev’s inactivity.
Check out Jorge Masvidal and Joe Pyfer’s comments about Khamzat Chimaev below:
