UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya doesn’t seem too bothered about the rise of Khamzat Chimaev.
The legend of Chimaev grew even further after another statement performance at UFC Vegas 11 this past weekend when he knocked out Gerald Meerschaert in just 17 seconds.
Given how he has constantly switched from welterweight to middleweight, many observers believe Chimaev is more than capable of becoming a two-division champion due to his active nature and dominant performances for the promotion so far.
When asked about that prospect himself, Chimaev certainly was confident of achieving it.
“Of course! Why not? I did hard work for that. I’m ready. Both divisions. If I do my hard work, nobody’s a challenge for me, I’m going to stop both guys [Kamaru Usman and Adesanya].”
Adesanya, however, is yet to actually see Chimaev in action. Not that he is surprised by his words either.
“I don’t even know the guy, I haven’t seen his fights yet,” Adesanya told Yahoo (via MMA Mania). “I saw the presser and he was just talking sh*t. He was just casting his net.
“Have you seen him fight? Rat lip? Meh … Tim said he fought low level competition. So he thinks I’m an easy fight … that’s interesting. I mean, everyone does this when they’re coming up, casting the net wide. Yeah, keep casting.”
For now, an Adesanya vs. Chimaev matchup is still miles away.
And “The Last Stylebender” already has his hands full as he gets set to defend his middleweight title this weekend at UFC 253 when he faces Paulo Costa.
However, it would certainly be a great stylistic matchup.
What do you think of Adesanya’s response to Chimaev’s comments?