UFC star Khamzat Chimaev has called out Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya as his pursuit of UFC gold continues.
Over the course of the last few years, mixed martial arts fans have seen one fighter rise quicker than most in the Ultimate Fighting Championship - and his name is Khamzat Chimaev.
‘Borz’ is 5-0 since joining the promotion and in that short space of time, he’s already been able to establish himself as a ‘future champion’ in the eyes of many.
There’s no possible way of knowing whether or not that’ll actually happen without seeing him fight for the strap. Still, it’s pretty rare to see someone showcase the kind of abilities that he has, especially when he’s so inexperienced in comparison to some of his rivals.
Up to this point Chimaev has focused slightly more of his attention on the welterweight division as opposed to middleweight. He’s still expected to mix things up between both weight classes but for now, 170 pounds is where he seems to be most comfortable.
On social media, though, he wants to make it known that Israel Adesanya is a marked man right alongside Kamaru Usman.
“who wants to fight ? @stylebender @USMAN84kgâ€
The path to superstardom
In his last outing back at UFC 273, Khamzat was able to defeat Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision in what was easily his toughest fight to date. The Brazilian threw everything he had at the Chechen phenomenon but ultimately, it wasn’t enough, and Chimaev lived to fight another day.
The immediate future remains uncertain but we do know he isn’t likely to get the next shot at Usman. That honour will instead go to Leon Edwards, meanwhile Chimaev is probably going to be tasked with facing Colby Covington.
The build-up alone is going to make this fun to watch with the showdown itself having all the potential in the world as far as entertainment goes.
If he can get through ‘Chaos’ then ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ will be there waiting for him, unless Birmingham’s finest can pull off the upset this summer.
Either way, Khamzat Chimaev isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.