Khamzat Chimaev isn’t keen on the next UFC pay-per-view’s main event, branding both fighters ‘boring’ as he makes his own push for a title fight.
The Swede hasn’t fought since last October, and recently pulled out of a UFC Saudi Arabia main event when he became violently ill. But he is back training now, and making a beeline for a belt, either at welterweight or middleweight.
He is going to be watching with a keen eye next Saturday when Leon Edwards defends his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad in Manchester. But Chimaev believes that they are both decision merchants, and that neither are as explosive and exciting for fans.
- Who is Leon Edwards? Meet the welterweight champion who knocked out Kamaru Usman and is headlining at UFC 304
Khamzat Chimaev slams ‘boring’ Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad ahead of UFC 304
With a week to go until UFC 304, the hype is beginning to build for the UK return of Leon Edwards, who defends his belt against top contender Belal Muhammad. The pair battled it out before in March of 2021, but the bout didn’t get past 20 seconds of round two due to an illegal strike.
Khamzat Chimaev was due to face Edwards that night, but was forced out due to illness after multiple previous attempts to book the fight. He is still not impressed by the Brit’s skillset, nor his ability to make a fight interesting on the microphone.
He told MMA fighter Aslanbek Badaev in his popular Badaev vlog that he believes aside from his historic win over Kamaru Usman, Edwards isn’t a fan-friendly fighter. That is a commonly held belief about Muhammad, although he attempts to trash talk more than most at welterweight.
“It’s a boring fight,” Chimaev claimed. “Both guys don’t have trash talk and there are no finishes. The only finish I remember is when [Leon] knocked out Usman… One is working for points, the other is also trying to work for points. The fans won’t be happy about it.”
Belal Muhammad promises brutal night out for Leon Edwards at UFC 304
While Chimaev may not believe in the trash talking from either Edwards or his rival, Belal Muhammad is making a big effort to speak his mind. He sent a chilling warning to Edwards, insisting that he will be so dominant in their clash that he will make it look easy.
“I’m telling you I am levels above him everywhere,” Muhammad told Josh Thomson and John McCarthy during an appearance on the Weighing In podcast. “Even when people tell me that the only way I can beat him is laying and praying. I’m telling you I can outstrike him. I could knock him out.”
And during a UFC promotional video, Muhammad added: “I’ve just been wanting to get my hands on him for years. Now we get to find out. I’m gonna make it the worst night of his life. At UFC 304, I’m gonna walk through Leon, and the title is just icing on the cake.”
Khamzat Chimaev details his own struggles with illness
Many fans have critiqued Chimaev for his comments, noting that he just pulled out of a fight with Robert Whittaker, and that it has become customary. He has been forced out of multiple major fights due to illness, and also missed weight ahead of UFC 279.
“From the fight of immunity, my immunity had dropped very much,” Chimaev told Badaev during the vlog. “And we wanted to rest a little bit, for a week. I rested and I did not come to my senses… I ended up in the hospital and, to be honest, I had severe headaches.
“They said it was stress, there was something there, they explained it to me. I was in the hospital for two days, then I was home. A week [I was] like this. Three days later, the same thing happened again, I ended up in the hospital again.
“And the news came out so late too, I’ve been sick before this. When the news came out, they said don’t tell anyone. So, when I arrived home, everyone thinks that I’m in the hospital, there was a mouth, headaches, such immunity, I was very weak.”
- SICK: Khamzat Chimaev finally addresses the ‘violent illness’ that forced him out of UFC Saudi Arabia