Alex Oliveira wants to face Khamzat Chimaev
There's no doubt just how special Khamzat Chimaev is. The Russian fighter has been on the hunt for a ranked opponent, although he's just 3-0 in the UFC. Now, stepping up to the plate is Alex Oliveira. The tough as nails Brazilian is not presently ranked though.
If you ask around the MMA world, everyone would love to see how Khamzat Chimaev can handle the deep end of the pool. UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was also asked about him and said:
“I don’t know what the UFC is going to do with him about his next opponent, but in my opinion, I think he deserves top 10, top 15.”
“In my opinion, it’s top 10. He deserves to fight with a really tough opponent, like five rounds, and then after this one, he deserves a contender fight.”
The latest rumor says that Khamzat Chimaev will be locking horns with "Wonderboy" Stephen Thompson. But Thompson recently came out and said that risking his fifth ranked slot would do nothing for him in this situation.
And that's a very true statement. The history of sports, in general, is littered with the highly ranked star losing to the up and coming fighter. Although Oliveira is unranked at the moment, he recently was and is more than capable of handing Khamzat Chimaev his first pro loss.
Manager Alex Davis told MMA Junkie, that his client Alex Oliveira would gladly take the fight. Oliveira has power in his hands which is evident from his record. 12 of Oliveira's 22 wins have come via KO.
The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt also has five submission wins to go along with that. Right now, he's on a two-fight winning streak. To go along with that, his last four fights have all gone to the judge's scorecards.
That's something that most likely Charles Oliveira won't have to worry about with Khamzat Chimaev. He'll just have to withstand that early power from the Russian fighter. And if Charles can put Khamzat Chimaev on the canvas, we can then see how he handles that. Because in the UFC octagon, no one knows what that would look like.
Khamzat Chimaev seems to be getting a little frustrated himself, as he tweeted to UFC President Dana White:
With Chimaev being able to bounce between 170 and 185 right now he has a lot of options.
But Alex Oliveira has amassed himself quite a highlight reel thanks to his rock hard jaw, and a willingness to throw hands.
But the last time he won by finish (ko) was against Carlo Pedersoli Jr., who just signed with Bellator. That 39-second win came back in 2018.