Khamzat Chimaev is scheduled for a bout against Gilbert Burns at UFC 273. Ahead of his massive fight, former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo made an offer to help ‘Borz’ prepare for a fight against Adesanya.
If Chimaev manages to beat Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 and get a title shot against Kamaru Usman, then a fight against Israel Adesanya is not far-fetched.
According to ‘Triple C’, he’ll be more than happy to help Chimaev gain some elite level fighting skills. However, only if he moves up to face reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and not his friend Kamaru Usman.
Cejudo and Chimaev recently met on the recent episode of The Triple C and Schmo Show, where Cejudo said:
“The only problem is I can’t train [Khamzat] Chimaev if he’s fighting ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ [Usman]. But I will train him. Help him out [for] that freaking Israel lasagna guy. I will definitely help you out for that one. But if you’re gonna fight ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, I’m about to be out captain.”
“If your plan is to become a two or three-time division champ, I want to challenge you… If you’re planning on becoming a double champ or even a triple champ, I think you go after Israel Adesanya. I think you go up, fight him, and then you come down or you go up to light heavyweight if you like.”, Cejudo added.
Khamzat Chimaev says Israel Adesanya is an Easier Matchup
The Swede sees an opportunity to the title in a higher weight class, simply because of the lack of wrestling skills of the current UFC Middleweight titleholder, Israel Adesanya.
Recently, ‘Borz’ made a bold claim saying a fight with Adesanya will be easier than the one with Kamaru Usman:
“Izzy, I think it will be easier for me to smash that guy [than Kamaru Usman]. He has zero wrestling. The guy he fought last time, he’s not a wrestler — he took his back. If I take his back, brother, I’ll squeeze his head off. I’ll take his head off. Easy money for me.”
A kickboxing prodigy and an elite striker, Adesanya has a flawless record of 11-0 at 185 pounds in the UFC and the 2nd-longest winning streak in UFC middleweight history with 4 successful title defenses.
On the other hand, Chimaev has won both of his octagon bouts at 185 pounds in dominating performances. However, for now, the Chechen-born fighter awaits a matchup with one-time title challenger Gilbert Burns in a high-stakes Welterweight bout at UFC 273.
