Major concern about Khamzat Chimaev potentially dethroning Dricus du Plessis addressed by MMA insiders 

Josh Thomson and John McCarthy are not buying into the fear that Khamzat Chimaev winning the middleweight title at UFC 319 would spell disaster for the promotion.

On a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, both pushed back on claims made by several UFC analysts, calling the situation manageable if the UFC takes the right approach. McCarthy brought up Chimaev’s initial rise, where he was being booked at a record pace before health issues and visa troubles slowed everything down.

He insisted that the UFC can work around those problems, especially by hosting events outside the United States if necessary:

"Khamzat was a guy that was going to have more fights than anyone. He has run into problems with visas, and that is a problem for the UFC, but they can always get around those problems because the UFC is the one that decides where they put their fights. Will it be a problem if Khamzat beats DDP [Dricus du Plessis]? No. They'll work with it. They'll work at getting him visas in the States so they can do fights here with him. And if they can't, they've got plenty of places they can go and take their champion to do fights for the middleweight title."

Thomson added:

"I do get concerned that if he is ill, if he is sick, if he's having health problems, that does scare me a little bit. We've already gone through the heavyweight division being held up. The 205 division is lagging... The middleweight division finally has some activity... I understand what Din [Thomas] is talking about, but I’m not quite convinced it’ll happen."

Check out the full conversation below (1:12:20):

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Din Thomas warns of unreliable reign if Khamzat Chimaev wins at UFC 319

UFC analyst Din Thomas, however, isn’t as optimistic. Speaking to veteran MMA journalist Mike Bohn, he said Chimaev winning the belt could end up being a major problem for the UFC.

His worry is rooted in the fact that Chimaev has only fought five times since September 2020. For Thomas, that track record makes it difficult to trust him as a defending champion:

"If Khamzat wins, it's a disaster. You can't tell me a part of you isn't just thinking, 'This fight might not actually happen.'... Some of these guys habitually struggle in just making it to the dance... I'm not going to be pessimistic about it and will say he's going to show up. But if he does show up and he's able to win, do we trust him to be able to show up and fight again? That's the thing."

Check out Din Thomas' comments below (23:00):