Khamzat Chimaev has fired back at Daniel Cormier after he cast doubts over his chances of beating UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
Chimaev has so far fought four times in the UFC, stopping all of his opponents in one-sided fights, thanks to his incredible knockout power and exceptional wrestling skills. The 27-year-old has switched between welterweight and middleweight in the UFC and is currently linked to a fight against number two ranked welterweight, Gilbert Burns.
Adesanya made a fourth successful title defence this past weekend at UFC 271, by scoring a unanimous decision victory in his rematch with Robert Whittaker. Chimaev, who saw ‘The Last Stylebender’ get taken down four times by his arch-rival, wasn’t impressed with his performance and has backed himself to finish the reigning champion in the first round of a potential fight.
Khamzat Chimaev Slams Daniel Cormier
Henry Cejudo and Kenny Florian also believe that Chimaev is a nightmare matchup for Adesanya, but Cormier believes the claim is flat out wrong.
“I’ve been hearing Chimaev [would dominate Adesanya] from a lot of people,” Cormier said. “Cejudo said it this morning. My problem with Chimaev is: Chimaev’s going to rush, and because he’ll rush to get Izzy out of there, he’s gonna get himself into trouble. I don’t know if Chimaev is the guy because he’s obviously smaller [than Adesanya]. But his style won’t allow him to sit back with Adesanya.”
Chimaev, who was clearly unhappy with Cormier’s comments, gave a fiery response through Twitter.
“For you and your team, it may be a problem, but not for me. If you think he might be a problem for me, let him try to stop me. Do you know why I am better than you? Because I’m not you, I’m different,” Chimaev wrote.
How do you rate Khamzat Chimaev’s chances against Israel Adesanya in a potential fight?
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