Khamzat Chimaev is about to face one of the most important fights of his career. A fight that could potentially reshape the trajectory of his path ahead. The Emirati is about to face former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker on UFC’s debut in Saudi Arabia on June 22. A victory in this fight would give Chimaev his chance to set claim for the middleweight title and well ahead of his bout, Chimaev has found some serious backing from Anthony Smith.

‘Lionheart’ in his latest escapade has backed Khamzat Chimaev to defeat Whittaker. In his conversation with Michael Bisping on his podcast, Smith asserted that there is hardly anyone who has the same ability to finish matches as Chimiaev. What more did Smith say about the undefeated fighter?

Anthony Smith heaps of praises for Khamzat Chimaev

Khamzat Chimaev has been an undefeated force in his career. With 13 victories and 0 losses, Chimaev has set an exemplary career. However, this has yet to bear him any championship fruit.’ Borz’ has yet to get a title shot in any of his divisions. The Emirati was supposed to get the title shot after he defeated Kamaru Usman back in UFC 294 but injuries and bad health stopped Dana White from giving it to him. Thus, his match against Robert Whittaker is a direct card for him to settle his score for the belt.

Amid these discussions, Anthony Smith has come forward to extend his support to Chimaev. While having a conversation with Bisping, ‘Lionheart’ praised Chimaev’s ability to win the match, “I’m a real big believer in Khamzat, I really am. I think the guy’s incredible. But if we’re just being critical, first round,” said Smith on BYM Podcast.

He further added, “I think Khamzat can beat anybody across any weight class, I don’t give a sh*t who it is. Anybody in the world, he can beat in the first round. We start getting into the second, third, fourth, fifth – the Gilbert Burns fight is a perfect example. If that fight goes another two rounds, (he’d be in trouble). … First round, monster.”

Well, Smith’s words do hold some weight considering the fact that out of the 7 fights Chimaev fought under the promotion he has finished four of them in the very first round. Nonetheless, ‘Lionheart’ was not the only one who praised the undefeated warrior recently.

Kamaru Usman gives his two pieces on ‘Borz’

Kamaru Usman was Khamzat Chimaev’s last opponent. Their fight went to a decision. It was Chimaev’s second fight that ended in a decision after Gilbert Burns. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ took the match on 10-day notice and fought one weight class above his division against Chimaev. The former welterweight champion was defeated by way of majority decision but it let Usman know what kind of a threat Chimaev is.

In a conversation on the Pound4Pound podcast, Usman praised Chimaev ahead of his clash against Whittaker, “You know I would have liked to see that go longer, but I just think because of my fight people are kinda downplaying his skills whether he’s good or not, everyone’s saying he’s not that good but I was a champion, you know, so I kinda think he’s getting the short end of the stick here because everyone’s going he’s not that good anymore,” said Usman.

Chimaev’s wrestling skills are one of the best in the promotion. However, will it be enough to subdue Whittaker who has arguably more experience than him? Nonetheless, what’s your take on their match? Who do you think would emerge victorious?