You know he’s going to have his best material ready for this one. Chase Sherman, the unofficial “GIF King” of the UFC, has been booked to face fellow heavyweight Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC Shanghai (UFC Fight Night 122) next month. MMA Today first reported the pairing, which the UFC later confirmed.
BIG Boys headed to #UFCShanghai!!
??s ? https://t.co/mHeZTLeWBk pic.twitter.com/tW0nsMjGry— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) October 5, 2017
Aside from showing Twitter how the GIF game is played, Sherman (11–3) is coming off a two-fight winning streak. Most recently, he put on a spirited unanimous decision victory against Damian Grabowski at UFC on Fox 25. Prior to that, “The Vanilla Gorilla” captured Fight of the Night honors at UFC 211 against Rashad Coulter. Overall, the heavyweight is 2-2 in the UFC. His fight at UFC Shanghai will be his fourth of 2017, a good pace for any heavyweight.
Shamil Abdurakhimov, on the other hand, has not fought since late last year, when he fell to Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC Fight Night 102. Like Sherman, Abdurakhimov (17–4) is 2-2 in the UFC, with wins over Anthony Hamilton and Walt Harris, both by decision.
UFC Fight Night 122 takes place November 25 at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China. The event, headlined by a middleweight contest between the legendary Anderson Silva and TUF winner Kelvin Gastelum, will be the UFC’s first foray into mainland China.
