UFC star Khamzat Chimaev has been pushing for a fight against Kamaru Usman for months, but fears the welterweight champion will retire to avoid fighting him.
Usman, 35, makes the sixth defence of his 170lb title this Saturday in a rematch against top contender Leon Edwards. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' has hinted at retirement, but also has teased his plans of becoming a two-weight champion by moving up to light-heavyweight. Chimaev, who fights Nate Diaz at UFC 279 next month, is arguably one win away from challenging for the welterweight belt.
Chimaev has called out Usman on several occasions, but the champion said he may be retired before 'Borz' earns a title shot. Speaking with The Mac Life, Chimaev said of Usman: "I think the guy’s scared of me. He always talk about maybe I finish [retire]. I hope he wins the fight and then I fight with him, but if he stays away for a long time, Jorge [Masvidal] has started to talk too much, I might have to smash his face as well.”
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Usman, who is unbeaten in almost a decade, is a considerable favourite heading into his rematch against Edwards, who hasn't lost since being outpointed by Usman in their 2015 meeting. Chimaev said of the rematch: "From that time to when they meet the last time, they’re both completely different. Kamaru’s getting much better boxing and Leon’s getting better wrestling. It’s interesting fight for me as well to watch that fight."
Chimaev has also competed at middleweight during his impressive UFC run, but is determined on capturing the welterweight title before returning to the weight class. The Chechen admitted he wanted to move back up to 185lb after his win over Gilbert Burns in April but was advised by his manager to stay at welterweight for a potential fight with Usman. Chimaev even claimed he would be open to fighting former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar if the money was right.
“I actually told my manager, let me fight at 84 [kilograms] as wel but he said let’s wait and focus on 170 take the belt then go up," Chimaev added. "We will see. I’m ready for everyone. When I said I can fight with Brock Lesnar, it’s real, I can fight with him. If they give me $1million, no problem. Let’s fight who they want. Kamaru Usman, doesn’t matter.”
