Ahead of his fight against Gilbert Burns, Kamaru Usman talks about the rising Welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev.
After an enthralling Lightweight stretch, the limelight will now shift to the Welterweight division. The 170-pound weight class is the bearer of the headliner fight of the upcoming Pay-Per-View UFC 258. And on account of that, the focus is now on the UFC Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and the No.1 title contender Gilbert Burns.
The matchup is a much anticipated one, which after two scraps will finally take place on February 13.
It is going to be an evenly contested fight and in accordance with that, the majority of the time both fighters might be contemplating ways to get the better of each other. However, despite being occupied with the challenge at hand, the champion hasn’t lost sight of the scenario of the division and is wary of the rising contenders as well.
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Kamaru Usman heaps praise on rising Welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev
In an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Kamaru Usman expressed his views on Khamzat Chimaev’s surge in the UFC and was all-praise for the breakout star.
“He’s tough. He brings that basically the same thing that I brought when I came in the game. I could take anyone down, hold him down and do what I need to do. So, he’s tough, I see it I don’t put it past me. I’m not one of those guys who’s naive and say, ‘Oh I’m not gonna look at that guy because he’s below me’ no.
“I see it, he’s tough but that’s good, everyone is working their way up to mountain. And when they get up to the mountain and they have to speak to me and they have to engage me, I have to be that guy to send them back down.
“I see him. I think he’s tough.” Usman said.” I think he’s playing the cards right. He’s doing what he needs to do to get to the spot and it’s great. I’m borderline proud of him for that. I’m proud of all these guys for that, I’m just a proud dad looking at the top looking at all the kids saying, great job guys. I like what you guys are doing. So, I’m borderline proud of him for that.”
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