Neil Magny has been one of the few men to call out Khamzat Chimaev during “Borz’” rise to superstardom.
The pair has yet to cross paths in their respective careers and may have passed each other by at this point. This past Nov. 2022, however, Magny and Chimaev got the chance to train together in New York at Renzo Gracie’s gym. It was a pure coincidence, but one that opened Magny’s eyes.
“100 percent [I still want the Chimaev fight],” Magny told The MMA Hour. “We had a slight opportunity to train in New York and the guy is definitely the real deal. The best way I can describe it is I f—ked around and found out. Khamzat is definitely the real deal.
“I went in there thinking like, ‘Oh, he’s just a sweet little wolf that I can train with in jiu-jitsu,’” he continued. “I figured out real, real fast like, damn, this guy’s actually the real deal. He’s not a fighter to take lightly at all where, if I’m being honest, had I got that fight early on, I might have set myself up for failure looking past him a little bit.”
After Chimaev’s last fight, which initially saw him miss weight by seven and a half pounds, he defeated Kevin Holland via a dominant first-round d’arce choke submission (watch highlights) at a 180-pound Catchweight. It’s still undecided whether or not Chimaev will stick around at Welterweight or move up to Middleweight.
Magny, on the other hand, aims to continue extending his record for most UFC Welterweight wins at UFC 283 this weekend (Sat., Jan. 21, 2023) against Gilbert Burns.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 283 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 on ABC/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 283: “Teixeira vs. Hill” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.