Khamzat Chimaev is truly on a roll. With a perfect UFC record of seven wins and no losses, ‘Borz’ truly has a clear shot at getting his hands on the middleweight championship. The only hurdle in between is his upcoming fight against Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. After going through some major health scares and some apparent visa issues as reported by several outlets, it seems like the undefeated Russian is all geared up to try and get his eighth win.

However, this isn’t the only fight that he is confident about. In a recent video, Chimaev revealed his thoughts on the UFC fighters he could easily take on as he played a game of ‘rank the UFC fighters,’ including Jon Jones and Khabib Nurmagomedov. In the game, he ranked his fellow MMA fighters on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the hardest to defeat. So it was interesting to see what he had to share about the MMA GOAT candidates.

Nurmagomedov and Chimaev truly have a complicated history. In an earlier interview, Chimaev revealed that back when he started out in the UFC and got compared to Nurmagomedov, ‘Borz’ was once triggered by a statement by someone that the ‘Eagle’ would smash him. In retaliation, Chimaev stated that if the Dagestani would smash him, he would smash him too – a statement that was sensationalized by the media and soured his relationship with the undefeated fighter.

So when asked about fighting the Eagle and Islam Makhachev together inside the Octagon, Khamzat Chimaev avoided it by simply stating, “Not that question, bro. It’s weird because nobody fights with two guys in the UFC,” a good tactic to avoid further complicating his relationship with his former friends. However, the same cannot be said about Jon Jones.

Rating the MMA GOAT a solid 9, Chimaev noted that fighting ‘Bones’ would be a tough task. While the weight difference is there, what makes it tougher is the sheer strength and agility of the fighter. As a result, ‘Borz’ believes that he would try to maintain his distance to win the fight. He said, “9. I will shoot him [from] far away, man. Don’t make problems, troubles, you know?” Well, it won’t be wrong to say that this definitely is a fight many would love to see. But who else did he rate in this fun little game?

‘Borz’s ratings for other UFC fighters

One other interesting name on the list was that of the man with whom he has sparred, Sean Strickland. The duo has previously shared the gym together, and due to his dominance on the mat back then, Khamzat Chimaev believes he would be able to overpower Strickland. “I think five. This guy talks too much. He knows already what I did to him in the gym. He says sparring is different than fighting. They’re the same s**t, bro.” The next in line were Israel Adesanya and Leon Edwards. Two UFC fighters he has expressed his interest in fighting. While Adesanya has often had different priorities, things got close with Edwards.

However, due to various reasons, such as COVID-19 complications, the two never shared the Octagon. But ‘Borz’ believes Edwards too would be an easy fight, as he said, “Maybe 2 [or] 3. That should be easy. Smash his face.” As for ‘Izzy,’ he gets a similar rating. “5 [or] 6, too, as well. Of course, I’m going to catch him and take him down and squeeze his head off.” Being rated the same was the Kazakh, Shavkat Rakhmonov. Khamzat Chimaev believes that Rakhmonov is a good striker; however, his lack of wrestling would give Borz the upper hand. “5. Good striker. He has a good chin, as well, but no wrestling.”

But it was interesting to see that Chimaev believes defeating Robert Whittaker would be an easier task than defeating Strickland, Izzy, and Rakhmonov. Rating his UFC 308 opponent between 3 and 4, the Russian claimed that he is going to dominate Whittaker inside the Octagon in Abu Dhabi. Chimaev stated, “3 [or] 4. I thought he was a good guy, man. He started to lie; now I don’t like that guy.” Well, only time will tell if his prediction turns out to be true. But what do you think of his ratings? Do you agree with ‘Borz’? Let us know in the comments.