Renowned MMA coach Javier Mendez thinks Khamzat Chimaev is already among the GOATs.
Mendez, a major part of Team Khabib who has coached numerous Nurmagomedovs as well as current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, knows greatness when he sees it.
After watching ‘Borz’ submit former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 with a nasty face crank that left ‘The Reaper’ with disfigured teeth and a broken jaw, Mendez is ready to put the Chechen among the upper echelons of the sport.
Speaking to Red Corner MMA, the American Kickboxing Academy head coach said he’d put Khamzat on the same level as UFC legends Khabib and Makhachev.
“I think they’re the same level, but they’re different [styles]. They’re not the same fighter, they’re just different just like Khabib and Islam – they’re the same level but they’re different, and Khamzat’s different,” Mendez said.
UFC color commentator Joe Rogan shared a similar sentiment when discussing Khamzat on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.
Guest Konstantin Kisin compared the 30-year-old mixed martial artist to UFC lightweight great Khabib, saying, “Reminded me of Khabib as well. Where, like, you get up, you get straight back down, and then you just run out of energy, right?”
Rogan responded by claiming Chimaev might even be more dominant than the undefeated Dagestani.
He remarked: “Maybe even more intense, maybe even more dominant.
“To do that to Whittaker, a guy who’s a world champion – like even the Conor [McGregor] fight, it took a while before [Khabib] overwhelmed him.
“It took a while before he was just beating Conor’s a**. The beginning of the fight was more competitive.
“This was just an overwhelming victory. Khamzat just charged in, dove in, got him down, and mauled him. Mauled him until he broke his face.”
Mendez then admitted he was still in shock over how easy it was for Khamzat to submit Whittaker.
“Wow, what a fighter, what an unbelievable fighter,” the veteran coach went on.
“When he takes you down [he’s got] great control, great everything and then when Robert gave him his back, his jaw went snap, and teeth went out, I was kind of shocked.
“I was surprised that Robert tapped so quick, but I didn’t realize what had happened, that he broke his jaw, so that being the case, now it’s understandable.
“He’s such a warrior who would never tap unless he was in incredible pain.”
Rogan agreed when reacting to Chimaev’s victory on his his Fight Companion podcast, as he said, “Once he gets a hold of you, it’s so dangerous.”
Many believe Chimaev’s victory over Whittaker puts him ahead of Sean Strickland for a shot at the UFC middleweight championship, Rogan being one of them.
He stated: “He gets a title shot – I think you have to. Not just that [submitting Whittaker], but run through him. He didn’t get touched, he ran through him and he strangled him in the first round.
“He might be the guy. Think about this at 185 [pounds]. This guy was killing himself to get to 170 [pounds], at 85 he’s the f****** man, kind of crazy.”
Dricus Du Plessis defeated Strickland to capture the 185 pound gold via split decision earlier this year.
The South African recently admitted he’d prefer to fight Chimaev next as it’s the bout that gets him most excited.
However, while Khamzat is undoubtedly elite and seemingly destined to one day become champion, Mendez believes there’s one fighter out there who will surpass him, as well as Khabib and Makhachev, in terms of careers achievements — Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov.
Usman is the younger brother of UFC bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov and the cousin of Khabib.
The 26-year-old previously competed in the Eagle Fighting Championship and is 18-0 as a professional fighter.
“I see Usman as being the pound for pound the greatest fighter myself, he’s got all the attributes, he’s the most talented I’ve ever trained,” Mendez revealed.
“I’ve never seen anybody do the transitions, the movement that he does, he’s unbelievable. And he’s only 26, he’s only getting better.
“Whether he goes to the UFC or not, I don’t know if it’s gonna matter as long as he keeps showing people how great he is. To me, if he never goes [to the UFC], great, he’s still going to be regarded as one of the great ones.
“He will, you watch – he will be regarded as one of the great ones because what he does in that cage is like nobody [else].”
