After causing a major stir in his first three UFC fights, Khamzat Chimaev is set to return at UFC 267, against Li Jingliang. He says that he plans on staying at welterweight moving forward, and plans on taking out everyone in his path.
Chimaev exploded into the UFC with three finishes in the span of two months, across two different weight classes, while only absorbing two strikes. However he was unable to immediately capitalize on this moment due to a serious bout of COVID-19, after he was booked to fight number 2 welterweight contender Leon Edwards.
Now the Chechen is set to return this weekend, against the more reasonably ranked Li Jingliang. Ahead of this fight, he spoke to BT Sport and explained the he is feeling good and confident heading into this bout, and plans to get another finish.
“I’m going to go and eat this guy… We’ll see (what comes next). I’m open to everything. I just want to fight. I’m coming for everybody,” Chimaev said.
“I don’t know when it will be finished. First or second it doesn’t matter, but I’m coming for the finish. I’m nine fights, nine finishes. I don’t want to stop with this. I’ll go out and kill this guy. I don’t want to hold this guy down and win the rounds, I’m here to kill. I’m the warrior and I like fights like that.”
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Khamzat Chimaev Is Here To Kill Everyone
While Khamzat Chimaev is still a very much unknown quantity, in terms of how good his skills are against legit competition, there is a lot of hype behind the undefeated fighter. That was perhaps no more evident than by the fact that UFC was essentially putting him in a number one contender’s bout, four fights in the promotion.
Now that he is back in action, Khamzat is looking to pick back up where he left off. While he says that he does not know who will win the upcoming welterweight title rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington, he plans to smash everyone in his way, no matter who the champ is.
“It doesn’t matter (how many fights it take). If I kill everybody, they have to give me the title shot. I’m going to kill this guy and take the belt, doesn’t matter who they are. You’ll see,” Chimaev said.
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Edwwards vs Masvidal Backup?
While the fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards fell through, the latter has gone on to have a couple of fights. Now Leon is set to face Jorge Masvidal in December.
Khamzat says that if the UFC needs a backup opponent for that fight, he would be willing to fill that spot. He says that he thinks he and Leon will fight eventually, and would be down for it to happen then.
“I hope I’m going to fight with (Edwards) soon. If somebody gets injured I can jump in there. It was like we were supposed to fight, but I think one day we are going to fight… It will happen,” Khamzat explained.
“I think actually Leon will win this fight (against Masvidal) by decision… I don’t think he will want to fight me after this fight, I think he is next for the title.”
Khamzat Chimaev is set to return to action this weekend, against Li Jingliang. It will be interesting to see how that fight goes, and what will be next for him.
