Rising UFC star Khamzat Chimaev has called out welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya for his next fight.
Chimaev picked up the biggest win of his UFC career last month by outpointing former title challenger Gilbert Burns in a fight of the year contender. The win leapfrogged 'Borz' up to No.2 in the welterweight rankings after just three fights at the weight class.
Almost a month on from his last fight, Chimaev wants to book his return to the cage. The Swede, who has previously outlined his plans to become the first ever three-weight champion in the UFC, wants a title shot against either Usman or Adesanya next.
Tagging the two champions in a video on Twitter, Chimaev wrote: “Who wants to fight?". Chimaev is no stranger to 185-pounds and has already competed at the weight class twice in the UFC. He vowed to make " light work " of Adesanya after he defended his belt at UFC 271 in February
UFC boss Dana White said former interim champion Colby Covington will be next in line for Chimaev after his recent win. But fellow top ranked welterweight Belal Muhammad told Mirror Fighting that he doesn't think Covington will take the fight and has campaigned to face Chimaev instead.
Chimaev's training partner and friend Darren Till has backed him to give Adesanya a "tough night" despite the champion being unbeaten at 185lb. Till thinks Chimaev's biggest asset is his conditioning and relentless cardio.
“If Khamzat gets a hold of Adesanya, Adesanya’s going to have a really tough night. He’s f***ing super strong. As I told you, the most impressive thing is his physical condition," he told Frontkick.online.
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"He does not get tired. Once he grabs hold of you, he just does not stop. So, can you imagine having a guy like that for five rounds? That’s very tough. First Khamzat's got to win the welterweight strap, I believe he can achieve that.
"He has got some tough competition, I've trained with Leon [Edwards] who's a super tough guy, very technical. Usman, Colby and some of these guys. I think it's the same as the middleweight division, it's open wide. All the guys are so good."
Chimaev holds an unbeaten record of 11-0 and prior to his recent fight, all of his wins came by stoppage. In 2020, he set records for the fastest consecutive wins and quickest three fight win streak in modern UFC history.
