5 reasons why Khamzat Chimaev will find more championship success at middleweight

#2. The absence of a weight cut

UFC 279 was defined by Khamzat Chimaev's great blunder. The rising UFC contender failed to make weight for the first time in the promotion. Doctors allegedly instructed 'Borz' to abandon his weight cut, causing him to step on the scale 7.5 lbs over the welterweight limit.

However, as Chimaev once cut weight for a welterweight bout as a late notice replacement 10 days after a middleweight matchup, there is no doubting his ability to make weight.

Still, dehydrating his body to make the cut to 170 lbs has its drawbacks. First, the undefeated Chechen is approaching his thirties, a time when he'll naturally gain more weight and find it more difficult to make the cut down to welterweight.

As one of the largest welterweights on the roster, Khamzat Chimaev would be better served in the middleweight division where he wouldn't have to undergo quite as strenous a weight cut as he would for welterweight.

Khamzat Chimaev is extraordinarily strong. Even at middleweight, his strength is not to be trifled with.

Chimaev outwrestled Jack Hermansson in a freestyle wrestling match late last year, demonstrating superior skill and strength. Hermansson is a large middleweight and would never be able to make the cut down to 170 lbs due to his thicker and more muscled frame. That Khamzat Chimaev possessed a strength advantage over him is very telling.

Furthermore, Daniel Cormier once described Chimaev as "strong" during a mock wrestling exchange. It stands to reason that if Khamzat Chimaev can fight without a weight cut greatly diminishing his toughness and strength, he'll be a significantly tougher and stronger fighter for his foes to contend with.

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#1. Israel Adesanya is a better stylistic matchup than the top 3 welterweights

The UFC welterweight division is helmed by 3 fighters: Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Leon Edwards has transformed into a highly skilled wrestler, against whom Belal Muhammad could not secure takedowns.

Furthermore, Edwards is credited as the first mixed martial artist to take down Usman. Additionally, his striking in the clinch renders it more difficult for Chimaev to search for bodylocks against him.

Edwards is one of the best fighters in the world when it comes to making his opponents pay with hard elbows for pursuing clinch engagements.

Usman and Covington, by contrast, are both highly skilled wrestlers who will test Khamzat Chimaev's suspect cardio if given the chance, while being much harder for the Chechen phenom to impose his primary wrestling gameplan without exhausting himself due to the increased effort.

Israel Adesanya presents no such conundrum. While Khamzat Chimaev would be ill-advised to strike with 'The Last Stylebender' for any extended sequence, Adesanya's takedown defense will not be difficult for Chimaev to breach.

While Adesanya widens his base and explodes his hips back to sprawl effectively, he does not disengage from wrestling exchanges. Khamzat Chimaev is a chain wrestler. As long as he has a grip on his foe, he can simply chain more takedowns.

Furthermore, the reigning middleweight kingpin exhibits an alarming habit of turning over onto his stomach to push off of his hands and feet to get back up, which frequently exposes his back and neck.

Against an aggressive finisher like Chimaev, Adesanya will offer an easy back-mount and rear-naked choke. The Nigerian's reliance on pushing off of his legs is tailormade for Chimaev to counter by triangling one of his legs with his own.

If Khamzat Chimaev secures a takedown, 'The Last Stylebender' may not get back up. While there are several troubling matchups at welterweight, only Robert Whittaker stands out as a difficult foe for 'Borz' at middleweight, due to the Australian's impeccable takedown defense and pin-point striking.