Khamzat Chimaev has been encouraged by UFC champion Aljamain Sterling to challenge the UFC's latest new signing Bo Nickal in a grappling match.
Chimaev is considered one of the UFC's brightest prospects and continued his march to a title charge with another submission victory over late replacement Kevin Holland earlier this month. There is expected to be a whole host of exciting match-ups available for the Chechen star who could now move up to middleweight after missing the welterweight limit for his last planned outing with Nate Diaz.
He is expected to aim right for the top and has called out both Colby Covington and Israel Adesanya as he eyes an immediate title challenge in another division. However fans are now intrigued to see how he would match up against the UFC's new signing Bo Nickal who earned a contract with a second quick-fire win at Dana White's Contender Series.
UFC bantamweight champion Sterling believes that a UFC fight between the pair should not take place until further down the line in each of their respective careers. "Bo Nickal, Khamzat Chimaev, grappling match," Sterling proposed while assessing a match-up between the pair on his latest video on his YouTube channel. "This would be insane. I don't want to see these guys fight right now [in the UFC].
"Khamzat's got way more experience, I think just being in there with Gilbert Burns alone does a tonne for his stock, in terms of the experience department. The grappling is going to be very, very highly-contested, but then the stand-up will make things very, very different. I would love to see them grapple, I think that would be a fun one. I would take the folk style wrestler [Bo Nickal] over the freestyle wrestler [Khamzat Chimaev]."
Nickal who has three victories since starting his MMA career, is earning rave reviews in a similar way to Chimaev did when he first emerged on the UFC scene. The American Top Team representative has shown his elite wrestling and powerful skillset during his first outings, and is eyeing a sharp rise to the top five of the rankings.
Who would win if the pair fought in a grappling match - Khamzat Chimaev or Bo Nickal? Let us know in the comments section below
Having impressed fans with his latest performance, Nickal elected to call out both Chimaev and WWE star Logan Paul to potential clashes. “If the UFC wishes, give me that Swedish dude,” he said. "He might not even be the best guy, because he can’t even make weight, but if that’s the case, I’ll take him. If not, then give me Logan Paul. UFC debut. Me vs. Logan Paul, I know he has some skills. If we can’t do it in the UFC, let’s do it in the WWE. I’ll meet you in the ring.”
Dana White was then quick to downplay a potential fight between the pair any time soon, adding: “Let’s not get crazy here. It’s funny, we were in matchmaking today, and we were talking about Khamzat and possibilities and how f****** good that guy really is.”
