Undefeated UFC welterweight Khamzat Chimaev has a shot at graduating from prospect to contender at UFC 273 on April 9. At that event, the 10-0 fighter, is scheduled to meet Gilbert Burns; a fighter who last year challenged Kamaru Usman for the title.
Chimaev has been flooding the internet with gym footage ever since his last win, an impressive sub over Li Jingliang last October. In that footage the longtime member of Sweden’s All-Stars Gym can be seen training, and cavorting, with UFC middleweight Darren Till.
Recently Chimaev stated that he wanted to attract Conor McGregor to his gym, so he could get some rounds in with the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion. Chimaev, and Till, took to twitter to tell ‘Notorious’ they were ready to help him get in shape for his next fight.
The friendly offer is a bit of a departure for Chimaev, who has claimed he once flew to Dublin with hopes of tracking down and beating up McGregor.
During his watch-along video for this past weekend’s UFC London event, Chimaev revealed there is another former UFC champ he really wants to work with.
“Maybe I will write to Jon Jones,” he said (ht sportskeeda). “I said I want to train with him. The guys who he beat, it was monsters, monsters in his division. He didn’t get easy fighters but he made them look easy.”
Jon Jones hasn’t appeared inside the Octagon since he defended his UFC light heavyweight title to Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020. After that defence, Jones surprisingly vacated his belt and announced his intention to compete in the heavyweight division.
Since then the pandemic, pay disputes and a domestic violence arrest have combined to keep Jones on the sidelines.
This isn’t the first time Chimaev has brought up Jones lately. A week ago Chimaev bemoaned the criticism of his 10-0 record by comparing his start in the UFC—and his level of competition thus far—to what Jones, McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov faced when they first entered the Octagon.
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