Khamzat Chimaev has been labeled as an attention seeker by fellow welterweight title contender Belal Muhammad following his callout of Kamaru Usman.
Chimaev and Usman have traded words online, and it appears that both men are eager to do battle in the octagon. But ‘Remember The Name’ has little faith that the fight will actually be scheduled.
‘Borz’ has fought at both middleweight and welterweight in the UFC, but after missing weight by 7.5 pounds at UFC 279, speculation has grown that Chimaev will be a permanent fixture at middleweight.
Muhammad believes that it wouldn’t make sense for the fight to happen at 185 pounds. He also believes the likelihood of Khamzat Chimaev missing the welterweight limit is high.
During a recent interview with The Schmo, Belal Muhammad said this:
“This new Twitter age is kind of annoying because Khamzat is one of those guys, kind of like [Conor] McGregor, where they’ll throw out a random tweet here and there but nothing ever comes of it, right? When they say that, I’m like, ‘Bro that fight is not happening.’ Because they will both say something about it and then there won’t be nothing else.”
Muhammad continued by saying:
“I think it’s literally all talk to stay in the news, stay relevant. I’m excited to see if Usman fights again. I don’t think he should go up to 185 [pounds] ’cause beating Khamzat, if you beat him you’re probably fighting for the title next. And [Kamaru] is not going to fight [Israel Adesanya]… If Khamzat makes 170 that would be a great fight, but I doubt he can make 170…”
Watch the video below:
Jared Cannonier is interested in a fight against Khamzat Chimaev
Khamzat Chimaev‘s drastic weight miss at UFC 279 has thrown a spanner in the works for his welterweight title aspirations.
‘Borz’ has exuded confidence since making his promotional debut in 2020, and his domination and appearances in two weight classes has led to speculation that he could be the first three-division UFC champion ever.
Having found success at both middleweight and welterweight, Khamzat Chimaev is on the lips of fighters in both weight divisions. Recently, former middlewight title challenger Jared Cannonier expressed interest in possibly facing ‘Borz’ one day.
During a recent interview with MMA journalist James Lynch for MiddleEasy, Cannonier said this:
“The thought has definitely crossed my mind to fight [Khamzat Chimaev]. So yeah, these are definitely fun fights. I’m not saying no to any fight. So if [the UFC] call me and say, ‘Chimaev?’ I’m like, ‘Let’s do it.’ But right now I’m on a path for the title…”
Watch the interview below from 20:00: