Khamzat Chimaev reveals strategy he’d use to take Alex Pereira’s UFC belt

Khamzat Chimaev, one of the best talents in the UFC right now, has revealed the strategy he’d use if he were to ever rise from middleweight to the light heavyweight division, to try and take Alex Pereira’s belt from him.

The 31-year-old has never been beaten in 15 MMA bouts, nine of which have taken place in the UFC. Since joining the big leagues, he’s defeated Gilbert Burns, Kevin Holland, Kamaru Usman, Robert Whittaker, and Dricus du Plessis in spectacular fashion with an oppressive style of wrestling.

Though Chimaev has options in the middleweight division, there is also a super-fight option at 205 and, should he succeed there, he’d become a rare, two-weight champion in the sport.

Khamzat Chimaev’s Strategy For Alex Pereira Super-Fight

“I would love to fight for the second belt,” Chimaev said on the Badaev Podcast. “It’s no secret, the guy who’s got the belt at 205 pounds [Pereira] now is a very good matchup for me.”

That’s when Chimaev revealed the type of strategy he’d implement in such a fight. Obviously, Chimaev and Pereira have contrasting styles. Should Chimaev engage Pereira in a striking fight, he’d surrender the advantages to Pereira, who is renowned for his elite kickboxing. Conversely, Chimaev has the advantages if the fight were to head to the mat, where he could do to the Brazilian what he did to du Plessis.

Chimaev even said it turns into a bad matchup for him in the following scenario:

Size, Chimaev said, wouldn’t be too much of an issue.

“They say he has a lot of power, but I’ve never been edged out in that area. He used to fight at 185, too, and then moved up to 205. So I would like to fight at light heavyweight.”

The fight, though, is unlikely to happen any time soon. And this is because while Chimaev is clearly targeting Pereira, Pereira himself is chasing other fights, specifically bouts that would catch the attention of a mainstream audience. And this is why he’s seemingly looking to compete at heavyweight himself, possibly against Jon Jones, at The White House event tentatively planned for Washington D.C. in June, 2026.

Chimaev, though, would seemingly be ready to chase Pereira to heavyweight, too, just to get his fight. “I’m ready to fight you in heavyweight,” he said earlier in the month.