After UFC 320, where Alex Pereira beat Magomed Ankalaev to become a 2-time champion, the idea of a couple of new superfights took shape. One between Pereira and Jon Jones, and the other between the Brazilian and Khamzat Chimaev. But are those fights that we want, or the fights that we need? More importantly, is it something these champions (and the former champion) need?

Jon Jones had been calling for a “legacy fight” against Alex Pereira before he announced his short-lived retirement. Chimaev, on the other hand, had an on-again, off-again romance with the idea of fighting Pereira. Right now, it’s on again since they are both holding UFC world titles. However, MMA insider Luke Thomas believes that the middleweight champion may need to hold his horses and take a look at how other champions are approaching their title run.

Khamzat Chimaev’s Alex Pereira callout has been deemed ludicrous

After five years in the UFC, Khamzat Chimaev, amid many ups and downs and fight delays and cancellations, got to the apex of the sport and won UFC gold at UFC 319. He put on a dominant performance for sure, but that doesn’t immediately warrant a fight for a second belt. Claiming that fans don’t want to see Chimaev fight Alex Pereira, Luke Thomas told Submission Radio, “It’s like, who cares? You haven’t even defended the title one time. Like, what are we talking about here?”

Luke Thomas has advised Khamzat Chimaev to take inspiration from the flyweight champion and the bantamweight champion. Alexandre Pantoja and Merab Dvalishvili have been fighting one title contender after the other while putting on stellar performances. And with contenders like Nassourdine Imavov and Reinier de Ridder lurking in the title scene, ‘Borz’, according to Thomas, should look to clean out his division first because there is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to a fight against Alex Pereira.

“Look at Pantoja. He’s going for his fifth defense. Merab, his fourth. And they haven’t moved up yet,” Luke Thomas told Submission Radio. “This is such an absurd thing to say, especially at middleweight now, where [there are a lot of fights for Chimaev]… This seems insanely premature… By the time it is even relevant, who knows if ‘Poatan’ will be in MMA or light heavyweight at all.”

For context, Dvalishvili has wins over five of the top ten bantamweights. Four of those wins came in title fights (title win at UFC 306 and three defenses). Similar is the case for ‘The Cannibal.’ He has five wins against top ten-ranked flyweights. Three of those were title defenses, and the other was his title win at UFC 290. In comparison, Chimaev has two wins from the top ten rankings, and one of them was Du Plessis in his last fight.

The MMA insider echoed the same sentiment that Michael Bisping did in one of his YouTube videos as well. Khamzat Chimaev needs to run with the middleweight title first because the entire MMA community hates to see a division being held up by the champion. So, the Chechen star may need to go back and listen to what longtime commentator Joe Rogan had to say a couple of months ago because he’s confident about one contender who can beat him.

Joe Rogan backs Reinier de Ridder to beat Chimaev

It did not take much time for Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, and Jon Anik to start discussing Khamzat Chimaev’s next opponent during the closing stages of UFC 319’s broadcast. The color commentator brought up Reinier de Ridder’s name, claiming that his ground game can give him the edge against Chimaev and overwhelm the Chechen star on the feet. “Reinier de Ridder, in particular, given his ability to grapple on the ground, and also his ability to land shots standing,” said Rogan.

And then, the secret weapon in Reinier de Ridder’s arsenal, the knee strike, is something that Joe Rogan believes can be a great tool against Khamzat Chimaev. “Particularly that knee he lands. That is nasty… Toughness, experience, he throws those combinations with that long lead-in knee. He’s interesting,” Joe Rogan added. ‘RDR’ has trained with Chimaev in the past, so maybe he does have ‘Borz’s number. Who knows?

De Ridder aside, there are names like Nassourdine Imavov and Anthony Hernandez in the title picture. Others like Sean Strickland and Caio Borralho remain one win away from the same conversation.

Well, we have clearly established that there are some good fights in the middleweight division for Khamzat Chimaev before entertaining a fight against Alex Pereira. He’s the champion after all. Regardless, we’d like to hear what you have to say. Should the champion defend his title a few times like Dvalishvili and Pantoja before fighting Pereira? Or should he make hay while the sun shines and chase the ‘Poatan’ fight? Drop your comments below.