Khamzat Chimaev is the next hot thing in the UFC but John McCarthy wanted to remind fans of the previous generation
Khamzat Chimaev is the man in the UFC currently after an excellent win over Gerald Meerschaert. The Swedish star is no 9-0 in his MMA career and has won all his UFC fights by submission or knockout.
This was supposed to be his real big test as Meerschaert had talked the talked ahead of this fight. The American promised to destroy Chimaev, even though the UFC had confirmed the Swede would face Demian Maia next.
However, the fight didn’t go as per plan, at least for Meerschaert. The American started off on the back foot and was knocked out in 17 seconds.
Dana White was left impressed with Chimaev and claimed he is something special too. Megan Olivi and the UFC also brought up the fact that this would have been the quickest time taken to get three UFC wins under the belt.
Chimaev only made his UFC debut on 15 July and his second fight was 10 days later. He returned to the Octagon in less than a couple of months and picked up his third win.
While it is something incredible to get three wins in a span of a couple of months, that isn’t a record.
Former UFC referee John McCarthy wanted to bring up legend Royce Gracie.
“Sorry @ufc & @MeganOlivi but to say if @KChimaev gets a win tonight he sets a record for fastest time to win 3 fights in the UFC???
“How about a guy named @realroyce who did it in 1 night at UFC 1 and then 4 more at UFC 2. Fake stats.The kid is great, but don’t forget the old guys”
McCarthy is right in stating this. The UFC had a different style of doing shows back in the early days where tournaments were held and multiple fights took place on one night.
Gracie won three on the same night at UFC 1 while he won four in the next tournament. Gracie is considered as a legend in the MMA game, but this is a different time too.
Many suggested that this is the modern era of the UFC and Chimaev had created history. McCarthy conceded that Chimaev is a great fighter and he is right in saying that the UFC seems to be forgetting some of the legends that actually built the sport from the ground up.
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