Khamzat Chimaev is slowly turning into the UFC poster boy. With 5 finishes out of 6 fights, Chimaev seems unstoppable inside the Octagon. However, Chimaev has also built up a bad boy persona in real life and it looks like former UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman wants nothing to do with him.
The 28-year-old was involved in a lot of confrontations in recent times. The first such incident came during the UFC 279 fight week when he and Paulo Costa almost started a brawl at a UFC Performance Institute (UFC). The second incident in the fight week was moments before the big press conference. Chimaev, Kevin Holland and Nate Diaz created a big scene which led to the press conference’s cancellation.
The last such incident was after the UFC 280 main event. Khamzat Chimaev had a heated altercation with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov. Although the misunderstanding was later resolved, it still left a bad impression on Khamzat’s personality. Hence, Kamaru Usman tried to avoid Chimaev at a restaurant recently. Chimaev told the story of what went down.
“No, when we met he was with Ali Abdelaziz at a restaurant. Ali came in, but he stayed outside. I don’t know, maybe he thought I was going to start going at him in a confrontational way. I didn’t like it, so I went outside and invited him in to join us,” Khamzat continued, “No, why would I do that at a restaurant? I even told him, I was like fights are fight, but outside of that we are all normal people.” (h/t via Full Mount MMA)
Khamzat Chimaev is rumoured to fight Colby Covington next
Kamaru Usman has a new outlook on life after his loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 278. Usman is staying away from any negative limelight as he has a role in the upcoming Marvel movie, Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever. Usman recently attended the premier in a black suit which made him look like a movie star. So it is no surprise that Usman wanted to avoid any bad confrontation.
Usman will fight Leon once more in 2023 for the welterweight title. Although he lost the last fight, he will still open as a favourite over the British fighter. If Kamaru does manage to regain his title, there is every chance that he will defend the title against Khamzat Chimaev. Chimaev is reportedly in talks to go up against Colby Covington at an upcoming PPV.
Chimaev currently occupies the 3rd rank in the 170lbs division. If he beats the 2nd-ranked Covington, UFC will give him a title shot. If Colby does not agree to fight Khamzat, he has another option in the wings as well! At UFC 280, Belal Muhammad beat Sean Brady via TKO. After the bout, he called out Chimaev for a fight. Belal has the ground skills to handle himself against Chimaev, so it will be an amazing fight as well.
Who do you want to see Khamzat Chimaev fight next? Do you think the Colby Covington bout is the most appealing option? Or is there another opponent that you want to see The Borz fight? Let us know in the comments down below.