Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya apparently hasn’t seen any of Khamzat Chimaev’s fights.
Undefeated fighter Khamzat Chimaev is currently on a hot streak, and his confidence is at an all-time high. After his 17-second KO win over Gerald Meerschaert over the weekend, the 26-year-old feels he could take on UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman.
“If I do my hard work, nobody’s a challenge for me. I’m going to stop both guys,” Chimaev said during Saturday’s post-fight scrum.
Adesanya eventually found out about the said statement and was asked about it during a recent interview with Yahoo! Sports. Apparently, he has yet to see Chimaev in action.
“Have you seen him fight? The rat lip?” Adesanya asked his manager Tim Simpson (transcript by MMA Fighting). “Tim said he might have fought lower level of competition so far. That’s what Tim said.
“Fair enough. I’ll see him fight probably this weekend and I’ll make my assessment. So he thinks I’m an easy fight? That’s interesting. Everybody does this when they’re coming up [just talking] casting a wide net. Keep casting.”
It’s still highly unlikely for Chimaev and Adesanya to cross paths any time soon. For now, “The Last Stylebender” has Paulo Costa and UFC 253 this Saturday to focus on.