Khamzat Chimaev went off on Kamaru Usman and Paulo Costa during the UFC 294 press conference.
On Saturday, October 21, Chimaev plans to extend his UFC record to 7-0 by taking out Usman, the former welterweight world champion. Before meeting in the Octagon, the two world-class fighters joined the UFC 294 headliners, Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski, for the press conference.
At one point in the Q&A, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was asked how his “U.S. wrestling” would match up against Chimaev’s “mountain wrestling” on Saturday.
Usman responded by saying it won’t matter because he plans to mix things up in the MMA fight. He concluded his statement with the following quote:
“I might not be the best striker. I might not be the best grappler. But, when it comes to mixing it up, I’m the best in the world.”
Chimaev chimed in by calling out Usman for his recent back-to-back losses against Leon Edwards:
“That’s why you had the loss. That’s why you lost twice, yeah? If you’re the best then why you lost? Last two fights, you lost.”
Usman reacted to Chimaev’s comments with a threat regarding their fight on Saturday:
“That’s part of being human, and that’s a lesson I guess I have to teach you.”
Chimaev ended their heated argument by calling out Usman for the latter’s age:
“You a good fighter but not on my level. I don’t think so. You can’t teach me anything. You’re too old for that. You should be a coach in the gym, it’s better for you, it’ll be healthy for you. Start to be a coach. It’s better for you.”
Khamzat Chimaev calls out Paulo Costa for allegedly pulling out of their fight for being scared
Khamzat Chimaev spent a lot of his training camp preparing to fight Paulo Costa, who pulled out due to a severe elbow injury. Although Chimaev has a new opponent for UFC 294, he isn’t happy he lost his opportunity to meet Costa in the ring.
During the previously mentioned press conference, someone asked Dana White about Costa’s future, and Chimaev shut down the question by saying:
“Don’t ask questions about that sh*t, come on. The guy went home, sh*t himself. I need that guy here. I’ll f*ck him up…Be honest, he sh*t himself. That’s why he run.”
There will be added stakes in the UFC 294 co-main event.
Before fight week started, Dana White announced the winner between Khamzat Chimaev and Kamaru Usman would earn the next middleweight title shot against Sean Strickland, who shockingly dethroned Israel Adesanya in September of this year.
Watch Khamzat Chimaev call out Kamaru Usman and Paulo Costa below:
