Ali Abdelaziz shut down any talk of a potential superfight between Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev.
Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) captured the middleweight title with a dominant performance over Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319. Chimaev said the fastest route to becoming No. 1 pound-for-pound would be through newly minted welterweight Makhachev, and many salivated at the potential matchup.
However, Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) brushed those talks off when he said he’d rather not open the door to any kind of conflict between their people, and Abdelaziz agrees. He gave multiple reasons why he doesn’t see the fight happening.
“This will never happen,” Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “First of all, Khamzat is too big. I don’t think he can ever make welterweight, and in a way, like these guys, they know each other. They’re from the same region. And honestly, this fight makes absolutely no sense.
“I think if Khamzat goes up and wants to fight at light heavyweight, maybe it makes more sense. But in a way, Khamzat has so many contenders to clean out in the division before even thinking about moving to a different weight division. You have to be fair to all of the contenders, and I think he will defend his title.”
Former lightweight champion Makhachev will look to capture a second UFC title when he challenges welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena later in the year.
