Khamzat Chimaev believes that Kamaru Usman will be a changed man after his loss at UFC 278. Usman, ahead on all scorecards in the fifth round, dipped to the right, and ate a vicious head kick courtesy of Leon “Rocky” Edwards. The kick sent him crashing to the canvas, and cost Usman his no. 1 pound-for-pound position as well as his welterweight title. Chimaev told ESPN that Usman has lost his aura of invincibility, and will never be the same again.
“It was a crazy fight, good fight. I learned a lot of things about that fight. It was funny to watch, [Usman] was too much high up. ‘I’m gonna fight with Canelo [Alvarez],’ and he got shot. He wasn’t focused and he said, ‘I’m always focused,’ and a lot of things. ‘I want to make money.’ … Leon comes and shot his head, dropped the guy.
Khamzat: Usman Will Never be The Same After UFC 278: “Now you know you’re human”
I don’t think he’ll be the same guy again. In the mind. We’ve seen a lot of champions thinking, ‘Nobody can beat me,’ because he defend so many times, ‘Now I’m unbeatable,’ that kind of thing, and bam, somebody knock you out. Now you know you’re human, as well.”
Chimaev will face UFC veteran Nate Diaz at UFC 279 this weekend, and is widely expected to compete for the welterweight title in the near future. The 170-pound belt might be tied up with an Edwards vs Usman trilogy fight next, but if that’s the case, Khamzat Chimaev is happy to try his luck at 185 pounds.
“If they want to do it, for me no problem. I’m gonna take some other fight, and we will see what’s happening. Maybe Israel Adesanya or the other guy, Alex Pereira. Who wins that, maybe fight with them. I don’t know. We’ll wait for Dana White after my fight. He said after my last fight maybe we’ll fight for the title but it didn’t happen.”
As for Nate Diaz, Chimaev looks forward to facing a legend of the sport. “I am a fan – if you’re not a fan, what are you doing here?
I think the guys who say, ‘I don’t like nobody’ are liars. You look up to somebody. You have to look up to somebody. If you play tennis, you’re going to look up to the best players.
This guy’s been at the top all his life. I look up to him and other guys, watch the fights and learn something. Have fun. I like the guy. He’s a tough guy. I have respect for tough guys. He’s a warrior, I’m a warrior. Warriors always respect warriors.”
What’s your prediction for Khamzat vs Diaz? Let us know in the comments.
