UFC welterweight Vicente Luque once trained alongside Kamaru Usman, so he’s very familiar with The Nigerian Nightmare’s prowess in the Octagon. With Khamzat Chimaev surging through the welterweight rankings and seemingly a single fight away from a shot at Usman, Luque shared his thoughts on a potential matchup on the Trocação Franca podcast. “I think he can bring him danger.
I don’t see him beating Usman right now because I think he still needs more experience, still needs some tests. In a way, the hype and the way he reached the top are both good and bad. It’s good because everybody wants to be there, but also bad because he couldn’t build that experience to face someone like Kamaru, who has shown he will dominate anyone if you’re in his area. And if the fight gets complicated, he has cardio and heart and all the tools to overcome adversity and get the victory.
Vicente Luque Backs Usman To Beat Khamzat
I don’t know if Chimaev is ready to face that. I wouldn’t say he doesn’t have a chance, he can go in there and land a punch, something might happen and he wins, but I don’t see him as the guy to beat Kamaru right now. Maybe in a few fights.”
In particular, Luque made reference to Khamzat’s fight against Gilbert “Durinho” Burns. “He came in with this hype that he would run through ‘Durinho’ and I knew that wouldn’t happen.
He surprised me because he handled more pressure than I thought he would. I thought he would break as soon as he realized he wouldn’t beat ‘Durinho’ the way he thought, but he managed to fight until the end and won a close fight.”
‘Durinho’ brought him danger and he felt the pressure. There were moments he had to use everything he got. He felt the strikes, was knocked down, had to go for a takedown desperately. Once he saw he wouldn’t handle ‘Durinho’ on the ground, he opted to get back to his feet and the fight became a war, and both got hit during the war. Kamaru was in there with super tough guys, so I think Chimaev still needs experience to really put him in danger.”
With that said, Vicente Luque fully expects Khamzat to overpower his next opponent, Nate Diaz. “It’s hard for Nate [to win], only if the old, prime Nate comes.
But based on what I’ve seen from them lately, I’d put Chimaev as the favorite. He has shown he’s prepared to face those at the top, and I don’t think Nate is at that level today.”
Khamzat Chimaev vs Nate Diaz will take place at UFC 279. Do you think Khamzat can beat Kamaru Usman? Let us know in the comments.
