Kamaru Usman picks rival Khamzat Chimaev’s jawbreaking neck crank as submission of the year over Dricus Du Plessis
Kamaru Usman compares Khamzat Chimaev's submission win at UFC 308 with Dricus Du Plessis' submission victory at UFC 305.
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Kamaru Usman talks about Khamzat Chimaev's submission win and Dricus Du Plessis' submission win (Image via MMA Fighting/The Independent)
Chechen representative Khamzat Chimaev is making impressive strides in the UFC. Since his promotional debut, Chimaev has dominated several formidable opponents. Most recently, he showcased his skills by defeating Robert Whittaker, a former UFC champion, which garnered immense praise from the MMA community. In fact, his rival Kamaru Usman referred to it as the “submission of the year.”
Kamaru Usman co-hosts the Pound 4 Pound podcast alongside Henry Cejudo. Recently, they discussed their picks for the best knockouts and submissions of 2024 during an episode. When it came to choosing the Submission of the Year, Cejudo selected Dricus Du Plessis’ submission win over Israel Adesanya. However, Usman quickly disagreed and shared his own choice for the Submission of the Year.
The best submission of the year, this one is easy for me. Let’s start with Khamzat. Everybody always says, ‘Hey, maybe he will eventually slow down and he won’t sprint across the cage.’ He said, ‘No (against Robert Whittaker), I don’t care, I’m coming across the cage, shooting for your legs, I‘m taking you down, and I’m taking you down and I’m going to try and and choke you.’… He did it, and not only did he do it in impressive fashion, it wasn’t a deep choke.
Kamaru Usman via Pound 4 Pound podcast (Check from 8:24)
Usman specifically emphasized how Chimaev managed to make Whittaker submit even without applying a deep choke. Initially, many speculated that ‘Borz’ might have broken the former middleweight champion’s jaw.
However, Whittaker later clarified that it was his teeth that were pushed back during the match. This situation highlights the brutality of that submission victory at UFC 308. As a result, Usman has made a strong case for his former rival to be considered for the submission of the year.
Speaking of former rivals, Usman and Chimaev faced off at UFC 294, where the Chechen fighter emerged victorious over the ‘Nigerian Nightmare.’ Chimaev’s remarkable victories have significantly elevated his status in the promotion. As a result, many are now considering him for a title fight against the UFC middleweight champion, Dricus Du Plessis.
Robert Whittaker speculates how Khamzat Chimaev would fare against Dricus Du Plessis
After his impressive victory over Robert Whittaker, discussions about Khamzat Chimaev’s potential title shot began to emerge. Even the UFC middleweight champion, Dricus Du Plessis, expressed interest in fighting the Chechen fighter. However, due to certain complications, the matchup was never finalized. Instead, Du Plessis is now scheduled to face Sean Strickland in his second title defense.
After that, Chimaev went on a violent spree of posts on X targeting Strickland. Although these three fighters have an ongoing rivalry, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has commented on the situation. Whittaker specifically discussed and compared how Chimaev would perform against both Strickland and Du Plessis.
I think he just takes them down and does the same thing, like not necessarily to me but how he beat Usman or how he beat Gilbert Burns. I can see those sort of fights. I think he’d have more success with Strickland than Du Plessis just because Du Plessis is like a big dude.
Robert Whittaker via MMArcade Podcast (Check from 30:08)
Robert Whittaker believes that Dricus Du plessis will beat Sean Strickland at #UFC312
— FEDZ_MMA (@Fedzmma) December 9, 2024
And he also said that Khamzat Chimaev will beat the winner of that fight:
“Stopping that first takedown is so crazy… how do you stop that?”
VIA | @MMArcadePodcast #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/GPQbXRPK9Q
Interestingly, like Chimaev, Whittaker also expresses disappointment that the Chechen fighter has not received a title shot. It will be intriguing to see how the UFC middleweight division develops over the next few months. Additionally, it will be interesting to find out if Chimaev will serve as the backup fighter for the upcoming match between Du Plessis and Strickland at UFC 312.
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Nilaav Gogoi
(572 Articles Published)