Khamzat Chimaev is rising as one of the biggest stars the MMA scene has, and he may be on a collision course in the future with Israel Adesanya. Adesanya already has a lot to worry about, of course. He’s already set to defend his title against Paulo Costa, after unifying the belt against Robert Whittaker and defending it from Yoel Romero previously. But the trash talk between these two fighters puts an eventual matchup between Chimaev and Adesanya on the radar.
https://twitter.com/KChimaev/status/1308756877451304960
Chimaev came out in Twitter in response to Adesanya’s recent dismissal of him as a threat. He said that Adesanya will lose his belt because of his words. Those words included dismissing Chimaev as “rat lip.” Fighting words to say about someone that’s capturing the attention of the sport as a whole right now. Chimaev has earned praise from the fans as well as Dana White himself, and it looks like the UFC will market him as a future star thanks to his undefeated record.
Therefore, it’s safe to say this might not just be trash talk. Chimaev could be a real threat to Adesanya if his undefeated streak holds up. Chimaev already has three wins this year, gaining the third on the 19th when he defeated Gerald Meerschaert in an early first round knockout.
Adesanya, on the other hand, is set to take on Paulo Costa in under a week. He’s defending his belt again, and depending on the result, we may not even be talking about Chimaev taking the belt from Adesanya soon.
https://twitter.com/KChimaev/status/1308755219350605824
Chimaev, meanwhile, has also challenged experienced BJJ grappler Damian Maia to a bout via Twitter. We’ll see in due time if that becomes a real matchup.