Khamzat Chimaev is undefeated. But he came quite close, perhaps the closest to losing his ‘O’ in his latest bout against the legendary Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 last year. In the end, ‘Borz’ managed to win a somewhat controversial majority decision, but apparently, the hyped Chechnya native failed to live up to ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’s expectations.

A few months after the fight, Usman, on his ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast, said Chimaev “wasn’t special” like the former welterweight king had thought going into their bout. And that seems to have ticked off Chimaev in a massive way, who took to X to blast Usman, calling him a “coward.”

But now, with that far in the rearview mirror and Chimaev setting up to face Robert Whittaker in the UFC 308 co-main event on October 26, it seems Chimaev has had a change of heart. Speaking to ‘Shak MMA’ on YouTube, ‘Borz’ profusely praised ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, pointing out that Usman is an all-time great.

“A lot of lot of different things, you know. Makes a different mindset and a lot of good things, you know. Kamaru is one of the best guys who I faced and he’s been number one pound for pound… and people forget who was Kamaru man, you know,” Chimaev said.

‘Borz’ felt that Usman’s recent setbacks, including the loss to him, had unfairly made fans forget the former P4P king’s greatness. Chimaev seemed dismayed at this and felt that Usman, yet again, showed at their UFC 294 clash why he is considered the welterweight GOAT by many, including Dana White.

“So when I beat him, everyone talks about that he’s not that good and this and that. But that guy is crazy cute man. And if I take somebody’s back like I took his and he has a champion’s mindset. He didn’t give [up], you know. He has five minutes, he defend his neck. But this is not that easy,” ‘Borz’ added. Chimaev, of course, was supposed to fight for the title after defeating Usman, but an injury forced ‘Borz’ to turn down a title clash against then-champion Sean Strickland this January. And the division then moved on and Chimaev will have to go through another former champion to get the promised title shot.

Khamzat Chimaev to take on Robert Whittaker in the title eliminator at UFC 308

Khamzat Chimaev’s upcoming fight with Robert Whittaker will almost definitely determine who fights for the middleweight title next. At the moment, champion Dricus Du Plessis is set to rematch Sean Strickland sometime next year, Dana White has confirmed.

And the winner of Chimaev-Whittaker will have the strongest case to fight whoever emerges victorious from Du Plessis-Strickland 2. For the second time in his UFC career, ‘Borz’ will fight a five-round fight. And that is a very intriguing prospect for fans. After all, Chimaev has had issues with his gas tank.

After UFC 294, even Dana White would speculate that the result of Usman-Chimaev would have been a very “different fight at five rounds.” This is because the fight was turning firmly in Usman’s favor in the latter rounds although ‘Borz’ absolutely dominated the first one. What are your thoughts on Khamzat Chimaev’s praise for Kamaru Usman?