Khamzat Chimaev Agrees to Fight Former UFC Champion in Dubai: "I'm the King"
Khamzat "Borz" Chimaev has verbally agreed to face off with Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 in Dubai. Usman hinted at a Chimaev showdown in a series of Tweets and during an interview with ESPN; the Chechen fighter took it very seriously.
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In his May 23 upload to his YouTube channel, Chimaev confirmed the UFC has plans for him in Abu Dhabi in October, he then acknowledged Usman in the closing minutes of the video:
"I want to say to [Kamaru] Usman, I'm ready. Just sign the contract, let's fight. Let's make money."
"I'm the king," "Borz" dismissed Usman's call for a catchweight bout, claiming to be ready for any weight class:
"He wants money, he wants money fight then let's go .... [don't talk about weight classes], it doesn't matter to me let's go.
Let's fight. The weight classes --- if you feel the best --- you don't need to speak about weight classes, you know. "So, I feel the best [and] for me it doesn't matter, I can fight [at 93kg, 84kg, 77kg], all weight class, I'm the king."
The matchup would see two esteemed wrestlers clash. Chimaev is a Swedish national freestyle wrestling gold medalist, and Usman is an NCAA Division II collegiate wrestler.
If scheduled, the bout would take place at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, which falls on October 21. The event is said to feature "a highly anticipated world title bout," most likely between lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and the winner of Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush or Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje 2.
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