Khamzat Chimaev Talks With Chael Sonnen About His Next Fight (Video)

Khamzat Chimaev talked to former UFC contender Chael Sonnen in a short interview. Chimaev talked about his start in wrestling, how he ended up in Sweden and various other topics.

Khamzat Sonnen
Khamzat Sonnen - Image via @chaelsonnen youtube

The newest UFC sensation Khamzat Chimaev was interviewed by Chael Sonnen. The Chechen made a name of himself in Abu Dhabi by earning the quickest turnaround victory in UFC history with two wins in only 10 days. He dominated and finished John Phillips by submission in his UFC debut. He then went on to beat Rhys Mckee by TKO. Chimaev quickly earned the praises of the MMA community and UFC president Dana White. He also drew some comparisons to UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov due to his similar Fighting style.

Chimaev was recently interviewed by former middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen.

“Dou you live and train in Sweden? How did you get there?” asked Sonnen. “My brother moved to Sweden 10 years ago, he now has the nationality.” said Chimaev, “He took some members of my family with him too, so it made sense to come here and also try to get the papers.”

Sonnen went on to ask Chimaev about his sports upbringing. “What sport did you start with?”

“I started wrestling when I was 5 years old.” said Chimaev, “My (older) brother was a very good wrestler so I wrestled too.”

“You are from Chechnya but did you ever go and train with the Dagestani wrestlers?” “Yes, of course,” answered Chimaev. “Chechnya and Dagestan are very close. It’s almost the same country brother”.

Comparisons with Nurmagomedov have been made and Chimaev expressed his admiration and respect for the Dagestani. Sonnen asked him if he ever trained with Khabib. “You’ve paid a lot of respect to Khabib but have you ever been in the practice room with him?” “No, but I want to.”

The question of Chimaev’s best weight class has been asked before in MMA media. Sonnen was no exception as he asked the Chechen to clarify where his future would be in the UFC. Chimaev answered that he would continue at 170 but he wouldn’t be against an occasional fight at middleweight.

“You fought at 185 and 170, so what is your weight class?”

” You’re gonna see me most likely in the welterweight division. But if the UFC gives me a good fight at 185 I’ll take it.”

The went on to talk about the welterweight division and the potential matchup between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns. “Do you have a prediction about Usman vs Burns? How do you think this fight would go?”

Chimaev was pretty confident in predicting a win for the champion. “I think it’s gonna go 4 or 5 rounds and Usman will win by decision.”

Sonnen then mentioned that UFC president Dana White planned to make Chimaev fight again soon. He asked the Chechen if he had any updates regarding his next fight, including rumors of a potential fight against Donal Cerrone.

“We were told that you have a fight coming up soon and on the same day Donald Cerrone said that he was back in training camp.” “Have you heard any rumors about that?” asked Sonnen.

“No, I haven’t but if they give me the fight I’ll accept.” “He has a good name but for me, it’s an easy fight. I’ll finish him in the first or second round.”

“Dou you have anything you want to get off your chest?” “No brother, but I’m gonna smash everybody, I can beat anybody in the UFC and I’ll have the belt, I know that.”

Published on August 3, 2020 at 9:47 am
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