- Khamzat Chimaev opened up about fighting Kamaru Usman despite suffering a possible broken hand
- “Borz” is hoping that a title fight with Sean Strickland is next for him
Khamzat Chimaev proved that he is indeed, a high-level fighter after securing a decision win over former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 294. What’s even more interesting, “Borz” revealed that he fought all the way to the finish with a suspected broken hand. While Chimaev is still figuring out what happened to his hand, he insists that his goal is to still fight for the middleweight title next.
Victory despite the pain
Speaking to UFC after the fight, Chimaev confided that his hand began hurting after the first round but he decided to just continue and do his best to win.
“I think I broke my hand… I tried to wrestle but it was painful in the hand. But in the middle of the round I just said to myself, ‘F**k it, just go!’. We’ll see. If it’s not broken, we’ll just continue to train… I hope it’s not broken but it feels f**king painful. We’ll see,” Chimaev said.
Nothing was new to Borz
Usman was credited by many for taking the fight on short notice. However, “Borz” pointed out that none of that mattered to him as he is always focused on winning and that’s the reason why he always gets the results he wanted.
“I don’t know. I didn’t think about it, I was just waiting for my hand [to be raised]. They raised up my hand. It’s just that,” Chimaev revealed.
“I was ready for anyone. It doesn’t matter for me who is fighting against me. I focus on my fight itself and not who’s gonna fight me and what they’re gonna do against me… That’s why I win my fights. I know a lot of guys are thinking about what I’m gonna do that’s why they lose the fights,” he added.
Title fight should be next
When asked about possibly getting a title shot next, Chimaev quickly affirmed and reiterated his desire to take on Sean Strickland for the middleweight title.
“Of course, for the belt, for the gold… I need to beat the guy,” Chimaev concluded.
While Chimaev getting a title shot seems to possible, Strickland previously said he thinks that Usman vs. Chimaev doesn’t make any sense. It is yet to be known what lies ahead but one thing certain at this point is that “Borz” has maintained his undefeated streak as he is now 7-0 under the UFC banner.
Check out Chimaev’s full interview below:
