Khamzat Chimaev has come out and made statements about his true feelings about Conor McGregor.
The highly-touted prospect makes his return to the cage this weekend at UFC 267. He will face Li Jingliang in a welterweight contest a couple of fights before the first title bout on the card. This is Chimaev’s first fight in over a year since contracting a bad case of COVID-19 in that time.
While talking to the media in lead up to his fight this weekend, Chimaev was asked about his opinion on Conor McGregor. The soft-spoken Swed had this to say about the former double champ. (H/T rt.com)
“Yes, he achieved everything in the UFC, he was a champion in two weight classes,” said Chimaev. “This I respect with him. But it is impossible to respect him as a person.”
McGregor has been getting into trouble outside of the cage recently. He got into a scuffle with American rapper Machine Gun Kelly at the MTV VMA’s this summer. After that, he followed it up with an incident in Italy a couple of weeks ago. The Irishman allegedly punched an Italian DJ in the face during a party.
Chimaev burst onto the scene last year during the UFC’s run of ‘Fight Island’ shows. He won his debut in dominant fashion, finishing John Phillips with a D’arce choke in round 2. Chimaev then came back just 10 days later and defeated Rhys McKee via first-round TKO. He then knocked out Gerald Meerschaert in just 17 seconds at the UFC Apex in September of 2020.