UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya revealed surprising news regarding a surging contender in his division. ‘The Last Stylebender’ touched on the fact that he has yet to see budding superstar Khamzat Chimaev in action. The Swedish-Russian fighter has taken the MMA world by storm with his recent standout performances.
‘Borz’ has set a UFC record for going 3-0 in just 66 days. He beat out explosive 205-pounder Johnny Walker, who accomplished the task in 105 days. Moreover, two out of his three wins have come in the Middleweight division, although Khamzat is a natural Welterweight.
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UFC President Dana White is extremely excited about Chimaev, to say the least. The long-time boss of the promotion has explicitly said that Khamzat Chimaev is unlike anyone he’s seen before.
Israel Adesanya: “I’ve never seen him fight”
The City-Kickboxing standout explained that he had never seen a single fight of Khamzat Chimaev. Additionally, ‘Borz’ has called out the 185-pound champion and explained that he would easily dispatch of him. It seems as though Adesanya isn’t embracing the overwhelming hype that has surrounded the 9-0 prospect.
“I don’t even know the guy. I haven’t seen his fights yet but I know I just saw the presser and he was on “Cowboy” and everyone just talking sh*t. He’s just casting his net. It is what he’s doing. I haven’t actually seen him fight yet.”
Israel Adesanya went on to inquire about Khamzat to his manager, Tim Simpson, who was in the same room during the Yahoo Sports interview. Israel seemed unbothered by the hype around the prospect and brushed him off with his patented flair.
“Have you seen him fight? The rat lip?” Adesanya asked his manager. “Tim said he might have fought lower level of competition so far. That’s what Tim said. Fair enough. I’ll see him fight probably this weekend and I’ll make my assessment. So he thinks I’m an easy fight? That’s interesting. Everybody does this when they’re coming up [just talking] casting a wide net. Keep casting.”
Chiefly, Israel Adesanya will have his work cut out for him as he prepares himself to face Paulo Costa at UFC 253. The heavy-handed Brazilian is sure to push the pace and bring the fight to ‘The Last Stylebender’ when they finally clash. Not to mention, the highly anticipated pay-per-view marks the company’s return to Yas Fight Island.
