Prior to UFC 319, Dricus du Plessis’ coach went all out in their preparations, even putting up a $10K prize for anyone who could successfully take the champion down. However, that did not make much of a difference as Khamzat Chimaev delivered perhaps the most dominant performance by a challenger in a title fight ever. That win has prompted UFC legend Chael Sonnen to make a comparison between the Chechen star and Dagestan’s Islam Makhachev.

The most obvious thing that comes to mind when we talk about a comparison between Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev is their wrestling. ‘Borz’s recent performance has made Chael Sonnen believe that maybe the new middleweight champion is even better than Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protege.

Is Khamzat Chimaev a better wrestler than Islam Makhachev? Chael Sonnen thinks so

Well, some fans did not like Khamzat Chimaev’s performance due to the lack of action. He controlled Dricus du Plessis for 21 minutes and 40 seconds, setting a record for the longest control time in UFC history. Given that Islam Makhachev, who shares the same nationality as ‘Borz’ even though they belong to different regions, fans couldn’t help but compare the two.

However, Chael Sonnen claims that there’s hardly been any fight where Islam Makhachev has dominated his opponent in the way that Khamzat Chimaev did at UFC 319. So, assuming that they have the same level of wrestling skills would be wrong. The only fight where Makhachev was seen having a dominant ground game was against Charles Oliveira, but the fight lasted only until the second round. Hence, according to the ‘Bad Guy,’ there’s a case for Chimaev to be better than the former lightweight champion.

“To come out of that [UFC 319 main event], all of a sudden, this light goes on and you’re this big fight expert, and, ‘Oh my goodness! Islam has similar skills,'” Chael Sonnen stated on his YouTube channel. “I’d have to stop you right there. In what fight has Islam ever taken somebody down and controlled them, similar to the way that Chimaev did to Dricus? Where have you seen that?”

‘The American Gangster’ added, “Islam did not have a very hard time taking Charles down. With that said, they only hit the ground twice. With that said, the fight was finished… and that one was finished inside seven and a half minutes.”

Well, fans may just get to find out someday who is the better wrestler since Khamzat Chimaev could make his way down to welterweight. In that case, he may end up fighting Islam Makhachev, who’s gearing up for Jack Della Maddalena. However, it seems like the Dagestan native is a bit reluctant to butt heads against his Chechen brethren.

Makhachev is hesitant to talk about fighting his fellow countryman

During a recent interview, Islam Makhachev responded to the chit-chat surrounding a potential showdown against Khamzat Chimaev. First of all, he did not want to disparage the Chechen star since he didn’t want any “conflict” between the two Russians. Secondly, Makhachev claims to be fully focused on Jack Della Maddalena, so these talks about a fight against Chimaev aren’t relevant at this point in time.

“I’m answering this question here. I don’t want to open the door to any kind of conflict between our people,” Islam Makhachev said in a recent presser. But he did show a bit of interest, as the former lightweight champion added, “Well, we will see. I have a tough fight ahead. After that, we’ll see.”

Well, it’s important to note that both of these Russian stars and their camps have a lot of respect for each other, even though they’ve clashed once in the past. But it seems like there is something for the UFC fans to wait for after Islam Makhachev’s fight against Jack Della Maddalena. But he needs to win, and also, it will be interesting to see if he can do to the Australian what Khamzat Chimaev did to Dricus du Plessis. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.