Khamzat Chimaev has nothing however respect for Kamaru Usman.
On Saturday, ‘Borz’ will return to the Octagon for the primary time in a yr when he meets Robert Whittaker in a possible middleweight title eliminator at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
The battle will come nearly precisely one yr to the day that Chimaev final fought. That got here at UFC 294 when he went toe-to-toe with former welterweight world champion Kamaru Usman. Borz’ got here out on high through a majority determination, shifting to 13-0 in his blended martial arts profession whereas handing ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ his third-straight loss contained in the Octagon.
Forward of this weekend’s high-stakes scrap with ‘The Reaper’ at Etihad Area, Chimaev supplied his trustworthy ideas on Usman, calling him probably the greatest fighters he’s ever had the privilege of competing towards.
“A variety of various things, makes a special mindset and quite a lot of good issues,” Chimaev informed Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports activities. “Kamaru is among the greatest guys who I’ve confronted. He’s been No.1 pound-for-pound. Robert [Whittaker] hasn’t been there but. Me too.
“Folks neglect who was Kamaru Usman. After I beat him, everybody was speaking about he’s not that good and this that, however that man is loopy good, man. If I take someone’s again like I took his — he has a champion’s mindset. He didn’t give [up]. He had 5 minutes the place he defended his neck, however this isn’t that straightforward.”
Usman backs khamzat chimaev to come back out on high towards Robert Whittaker
Having gone three hard-fought rounds with the undefeated Chechen monster, it ought to come as no shock that Usman is backing Chimaev to come back out on high towards Whittaker within the UFC 308 co-main occasion.
“I don’t assume you’re too harsh. I feel quite a lot of informal followers really feel the identical means that you just really feel,” Usman mentioned on his Pound-4-Pound podcast. “And Robert Whittaker is a man that may grapple, or cease you from grappling, a man that may put collectively the mixtures that doubtlessly get you out of there. I feel Khamzat Chimaev is simply particular. If he is ready to get his palms on you and drag you right down to the bottom, I feel he is ready to impose his will down there and doubtlessly get that end…
“Let me simply preserve it brief… I really like Robert Whittaker. I feel Robert Whittaker is tremendous proficient, particularly what he simply went on the market and did in disposing of Ikram. But when I had to decide on, I’m gonna go along with Khamzat Chimaev.”
