After his latest dominant victory over Li Jingliang at UFC 267 last Saturday (Oct. 30, 2021) (HIGHLIGHTS), Chimaev was understandably the talk of the town.
Of course, not all of that conversation is guaranteed to be positive. Ahead of his title fight vs. Kamaru Usman, Covington still found some time to trash talk the Chechen, accusing Chimaev of being afraid of “Chaos,” as well as “ready to retire” after his well-publicized battle with COVID-19 (full details here).
Part of Chimaev’s rise in fame comes not just from his wrestling dominance, but also in how the grappler has absorbed barely a strike in his four UFC victories. It’s a record-setting series of performances, and Chimaev is also using his untouched victories to respond to Covington.
Posting several pictures of Covington bloodied up from his last bout versus Usman, Chimaev laughed at the title challenger and promised, “You will never see me like this.”
You will never see me like this pic.twitter.com/OsQsQFjjQm
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) November 4, 2021
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) November 4, 2021
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) November 4, 2021
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) November 4, 2021
This writer scores the opening exchange 10-9 “Borz.”
Covington is just a couple days away from his second bout vs. Usman, which is scheduled for this weekend (Nov. 6, 2021) at UFC 268 inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. It’s the second time that bad blood has produced fisticuffs between the two expert wrestlers, and it promises to be another tremendous contest.
Meanwhile, Chimaev has his sights set on Usman and the title, and he’s not actually much of an underdog. Before the title shot, however, Chimaev has all sorts of options in front of him. UFC is looking to match him vs. Nate Diaz, though there’s resistance from both the fans and Diaz himself. Other options for Chimaev include Gilbert Burns and Neil Magny, a pair of ranked contender battles where victory could land Chimaev his own title shot.
Might it come vs. Covington?
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 268 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPNEWS/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
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