Anthony Smith shares high praise for Khamzat Chimaev ahead of UFC Saudi Arabia: “Anybody in the world he can beat in the first round”

Anthony Smith is sharing high praise for Khamzat Chimaev ahead of UFC Saudi Arabia.

The undefeated Khamzat Chimaev (13-0 MMA) will take on Robert Whittaker (25-7 MMA) in the middleweight main event on Saturday, June 22nd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia.

‘Borz’ last fought and defeated Kamaru Usman (20-4 MMA) by majority decision in October of 2023 at UFC 294.

‘The Reaper’ last entered the Octagon this past February at UFC 298, defeating Paulo Costa (14-3 MMA) by unanimous decision.

Anthony Smith sat down with Michael Bisping on the ‘Believe You Me’ podcast and shared his thoughts on the upcoming bout between Chimaev and Whittaker:

“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, 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 kind of a perfect example. If that fight goes another two rounds…”  

Continuing, ‘Lionheart’ spoke about Khamzat’s fight with Usman saying (h/t MMANews):

“Better example is the Kamaru Usman fight. You don’t see people doing to Kamaru Usman what Khamzat did. Usman had built his career on being a ridiculous wrestler and he got tossed around like a rag doll in that fight but he had the toughness, the durability and all the experience to get out of it and into round two and he kind of closed the gap again a little bit and then in round three, he was winning the fight.” 

Anthony Smith (38-19 MMA) himself is hot off a submission victory over Vitor Petrino (11-1 MMA) earlier this month at UFC 301.

Do you agree with Smith that Chimaev is a force to be reckoned with? Who will you be betting on come June 22nd?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!