Kevin Holland: Khamzat Chimaev is “very smart” for only taking “fights that make the most sense”

UFC middleweight contender Kevin Holland believes rising star Khamzat Chimaev has only been accepting matchups that “make sense” for him.

Holland and Chimaev are two of the hottest young prospects in the UFC at present, both having enjoyed massive success in 2020.

According to Holland, however, Chimaev’s success can be attributed in part to his management finding him favorable challenges at both welterweight and middleweight.

“He’s bouncing back and forth to the fights that make the most sense,” Holland said on the Joe Rogan Experience (h/t Sportskeeda). “So, he’ll go to ‘ 70 for a fight that makes sense. He’ll come back to ’85 for a fight that makes sense.

“You know, nothing wrong with it, good management—fighters who fight like that, very smart fighters, I tip my hat off to them, them and their management and their coaches, that’s great,” Holland added. “That’s not me, I’d never be that, so props to those guys. But it’s like, you go to ’70 cause this fight makes sense for you, smart move. You go back to ’85 cause this fight makes sense for you, smart move.”

Khamzat Chimaev is currently 3-0 in the UFC, with a welterweight win over Rhys McKee and middleweight wins over John Phillips and Gerald Meerschaert—all in the first round. While those wins have given Chimaev quite a bit of hype, Holland doesn’t seem to be buying it.

“I was impressed by the way he knocked out Meerschaert just because he took the smartest route, which was keeping it standing, and I thought the guy who likes to grapple was going to take it to the ground,” Holland said. “But knocking out Meerschaert, after Meerschaert is coming off of losses, you know what I mean – and I know I smacked him a couple of times, I know Deron Winn smacked him a couple of times, and I know Ian Heinisch ultimately landed the last smacking.

“I think if you add up those three people who had decent power and have been smacking him at ’85 – the head just isn’t the same that it used to be,” Holland added. “He’s even fought Thiago Santos, right? It’s like, you can’t fight all these killers and take these types of head shots and think that you’re going to be okay. And if Chimaev has a little bit of pop, of course it’s going to look good. I mean, smart. Props to him for taking the smart program every time you fight a guy.”

What do you think of these comments from Kevin Holland? How do you rate Khamzat Chimaev?