Georges St-Pierre’s Coach Controversially Labels Khamzat Chimaev ‘Greatest Middleweight’ After UFC 319

The August 16 PPV headliner was just the third ballot fight at 185 pounds that Khamzat Chimaev has fought so far. Chimaev’s failure to make weight at UFC 279 marked the end of his pursuit of a title in welterweight, at least for the time being. However, now that he is the champ at middleweight, Georges St-Pierre’s coach has some thoughts about it.

After scrapping past Kamaru Usman on the judges’ scorecards at UFC 294, Khamzat Chimaev fought Robert Whittaker. He submitted Whittaker via first-round face crank at UFC 308 PPV to cement his top contender status.

But despite the limited experience and a championship reign just beginning, Georges St-Pierre’s coach, Firas Zahabi, has bestowed some large honors on ‘Borz’.

Khamzat is the greatest middleweight ever…I could put him against anyone in the middleweight division, and I’d pick Khamzat any day. Adesanya, DDP, Anderson Silva in his prime — forget about it. None of them can hold a candle to him.

Firas Zahabi said on their Tristar Gym YouTube channel

With his immense wrestling pressure, Zahabi even billed him the Khabib Nurmagomedov of the middleweight division. Despite the domination, though, the Chehcen phenom didn’t make it to the top on the Men’s Pound-for-pound Atletes’ Listings.

Chimaev ascended to the fourth position in the UFC pound-for-pound standings shortly after his resounding victory in Chicago. This achievement has propelled him to a position that surpasses those of notable competitors such as flyweight king Alexandre Pantoja, heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, and featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski.

Nonetheless, ‘Borz’ has persisted in a lower rank than two of his fellow champions: the first-place Ilia Topuria and #3 Pound-for-pound Merab Dvalishvili, as well as Islam Makhachev, who does not currently hold a gold.

UFC icon reacts to Khamzat Chimaev ‘boring’ at UFC 319 thought, with prime comparison to Georges St-Pierre

UFC veteran Matt Brown recently weighed in on fan claims that Khamzat Chimaev’s intelligent wrestling at the UFC 319 PPV main event was a boring turnover. Borz swept out the defending champ via UD to grab the UFC 185-pound crown. More notably, he used superior mount and side control to dominate and was hardly threatened in turn.

While many appreciated Chimaev’s performance, some didn’t take to the wrestling-heavy approach. Brown alluded to the likes of industry greats like Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre to iterate what it means to be champ.

Jon had boring fights. GSP had boring fights. Hughes had boring fights. The majority of champions do have boring fights; it’s just part of the game…It’s not a good strategy for competing, especially when you have the option of taking guys down. This isn’t GLORY… This isn’t Lumpinee Stadium. You have the option to take a guy down, control him, put him on his back, and not allow him to put you at risk.

Matt Brown on his ‘Fighter vs. Writer’ for MMAFighting on SBN

.@iamtheimmortal compares Khamzat Chimaev's "boring" win at #UFC319 to some of the MMA greats:

"Jon [Jones] had boring fights. GSP had boring fights. [Matt] Hughes had boring fights. The majority of champions do have boring fights."

(🎥 @DamonMartin) pic.twitter.com/mUldOJf5pm

— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) August 19, 2025

Chimaev’s wrestling dominance has now made him a prominent name at both the welterweight and middleweight classes. It goes only up from here as a 185-pounder and if he can pace it better with intelligent wrestling, the Chechen phenom can surely persist as a long-reigning champ.

ALSO READ: Khamzat Chimaev Happy With His UFC 319 PPV Win — Reversed #1 Doubt From Before Fight