Khamzat Chimaev is fast approaching the fabled levels of Jon Jones. At least that is what former UFC star and BKFC star Mike Perry thinks. Speaking to UFC women’s bantamweight star Kayla Harrison on his ‘Overdogs’ podcast, ‘Platinum’ was so hyped about Chimaev after his recent performance that he declared him a legend already.

‘Borz’, of course, destroyed the legendary Robert Whittaker in their UFC 308 clash last month. And Perry is hyped. “Shoutout to Chimaev, man. He’s a legend. I think no one’s been as good as him in the beginning,” the BKFC superstar declared. Kayla Harrison, however, was unconvinced. She pointed out that Kamaru Usman had gone three rounds and nearly defeated ‘Borz’ last year on barely ten days’ notice and calling the Chechnya native a legend after one admittedly spectacular performance was a bit premature. “No, you can’t say he’s a legend yet, that’s too soon,” she protested, but to no avail.

Perry was insistent. He felt that no other fighter, except GOAT contender Jon Jones, had been this good this early on in their UFC career. “He is though, because I don’t think anyone’s been as good as him, except Jon Jones,” he said.

That is why the American felt that if the undefeated Chechnya native continued on his current trajectory, the day is not far when fans would accuse UFC CEO Dana White of ‘glazing’ Chimaev. “If he continues what he’s on, Dana White will be saying ‘Chimaev is the best ever,'” Perry added. While it may seem like Perry is being a bit too enthusiastic with the Chimaev praise, his argument does have merit to it.

Khamzat Chimaev winning the title next will put him where Jones was at this point of his UFC stint

Khamzat Chimaev’s next fight is most probably going to be for the middleweight title. Officially, Sean Strickland is the number one contender at the moment and is set to rematch champ Dricus Du Plessis sometime next year. And Chimaev is expected to be next for whoever wins that fight.

This would give Chimaev the chance to approximate Jones’ trajectory to the title. ‘Bones’, of course, won the light heavyweight title in his eighth fight in the UFC. And if Chimaev fights for the belt next, he would have done so in his ninth UFC clash. It is also worth noting that Jones got his first UFC title shot on short notice due to Rashad Evans pulling out, while Chimaev has earned his title shot twice by fighting for it.

All in all, Chimaev is en route to becoming the ‘next Jon Jones’, all things considered. But the most difficult thing in our sport is not to get to the top but to stay there. That is why Jones, with his (de facto) undefeated record and most UFC title defenses is considered the GOAT. So even if Chimaev manages to win the title in his next fight, he has a pretty long way to go before he’s in the same class as Jon Jones. What do you think about Mike Perry’s opinion about Khamzat Chimaev?