Georges St-Pierre’s longtime trainer is not holding back with his praise of Khamzat Chimaev after UFC 319.
Chimaev completed his ascent to the top in the UFC as an undefeated fighter this past Saturday, when he headlined the promotion’s latest pay-per-view event at United Center in Chicago.
After some thrilling finishes on the main card, Chimaev dominated Dricus du Plessis for five rounds in a surprisingly one-sided contest between two fighters who had both yet to taste defeat inside the UFC Octagon.
The reaction to Chimaev’s record-breaking display has been mixed, with some lauding his complete control in the fight and others criticizing the Chechen star for not pushing to finish Du Plessis.
But there is no doubt which side of the debate this man is on…
Georges St-Pierre’s coach crowns Khamzat Chimaev ‘the greatest middleweight ever’
The result on August 16 marked just the third fight at 185 pounds for ‘Borz’ since moving up from welterweight, where Chimaev’s UFC 279 weight miss marked the end of his title pursuit in that division for the time being.
After scraping past Kamaru Usman, Chimaev brutally submitted Robert Whittaker to secure a title shot that he ultimately made the most of at UFC 319.
But despite limited experience in the weight class and his championship reign just getting started, coach Firas Zahabi is already bestowing a huge title upon Chimaev.
“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.
Khamzat Chimaev remains outside the pound-for-pound top three
While Zahabi claims Chimaev to be the best of all time at 185 pounds, his latest performance was not enough to put him above three other names in the promotion.
Chimaev entered the UFC pound-for-pound rankings at No. 4 a few days on from his triumph in Chicago. That’s put him above the likes of flyweight king Alexandre Pantoja, heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, and featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski.
‘Borz’ has, however, remained below two fellow champs in No. 1 Ilia Topuria and No. 3 Merab Dvalishvili, as well as one man not currently holding gold in Islam Makhachev.