Khamzat Chimaev is adamant the UFC are protecting Israel Adesanya, declaring that he would "kill" the middleweight champion if the pair were to meet.
The Swede has been out of action since his submission win over Kevin Holland last September and appears to still be undecided on whether he will make one last push to hit the welterweight limit, or move up to 185lb altogether. He has fought at both weights in the promotion, and remains unbeaten with a series of high-profile wins against top opposition.
And he believes that his skillset as one of the promotion's best grapplers would mean that he would handily defeat Adesanya, known more for his proficiency as a kickboxer. The middleweight champion has lost just once at the weight in his career and immediately rectified that knockout loss to Alex Pereira with a stoppage of his own six months later.
