Khamzat Chimaev isn’t sold on UFC welterweight champion and current men’s pound-for-pound No. 1 Kamaru Usman.
Despite virtually clearing out the welterweight division and defending his title five times, ‘Borz’ doesn’t think ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is all he’s cracked up to be.
Chimaev criticized Usman’s recent title defenses against Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal and questioned how many more rounds the 34-year-old has left in the tank.
“Brother, (Kamaru) Usman is almost (retired), his knees don’t work, his back hurts, his arm hurts, operation everywhere,” Khamzat told former UFC two-division champion Daniel Cormier ahead of his welterweight matchup with Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 (h/t BJPenn.com). “The guy (Usman) is too old and too slow. He’s too slow, they want to like make money how they talk, they want to find a way and make money and go away from me, you know.”
“Who (has) he (Usman) beat, brother? He beat the same two guys four times. He beat Colby (Covington) twice and he beat the other guy (Jorge Masvidal), twice. Who he beat, brother? Tyron Woodley – he was out from the UFC after him, 10 guys beat him, and boxing, a YouTube vlogger (Jake Paul) beat that guy. You know like, who he beat? I don’t know, I don’t understand, he didn’t beat and didn’t fight somebody like me.”
Usman’s next title defense is expected to be against No. 3-ranked welterweight Leon Edwards, whom he previously beat in a non-title bout back in 2015.
Khamzat, meanwhile, will return to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC 273 to take on Burns. The highly anticipated PPV, which features Burns vs. Chimaev on the main card, takes place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
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