Kamaru Usman says Khamzat Chimaev 'nothing special,' Chimaev claps back
Khamzat Chimaev didn’t have the invincible aura Kamaru Usman expected.
Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) stepped in on less than 10 days’ notice to face Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in a middleweight bout this past October at UFC 294. After a rough first round, Usman rallied, but fell short in a majority decision loss.
When asked if he saw something special in undefeated Chimaev, former welterweight champion Usman says some self-belief would have helped him prevail.
“You get in those type of fights and those positions to where you build something up in your mind and in your head,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “And everyone’s now – especially now in this machine of the UFC, of MMA – you build him up in your head.
“Then you get in there and you go, ‘That wasn’t special.’ There was nothing different that I haven’t seen. Had I given it a little bit more, had I have given myself a little bit more credit, that would have turned out totally different.”
Usman was taken down and put in some compromising positions in Round 1 against Chimaev. But as the fight went on, he was able to fend off Chimaev’s grappling and get the better of some of the striking exchanges. However, it was too little, too late for Usman.
“We get out there, and right away he takes a shot, and I’m just like, ‘Oh, sh*t,'” Usman recounted. “He’s a little bigger than I thought, but nothing special. He’s on top and I’m like, ‘These strikes don’t really hurt. Nothing special.’
“Then I got up to my feet, and it was the first punch I hit him with, I’m like, ‘Oh, OK. I can do this.’ But it was after the end of the fight, it was just in my head saying, ‘Why? Why did I doubt myself. Don’t do that again.'”
Chimaev fired back, reminding him what happened in the fight.
“Don’t talk too much musman you’re lost This people are proud of their losses. Wtf .”
Don’t talk too much musman you’re lost
This people are proud of their losses. Wtf pic.twitter.com/Y9pdm5yjat— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) March 15, 2024