The former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman stepping in to fight Khamzat Chimaev has made the UFC 294 co-main event more interesting. There was a lot of noise about this matchup when both the fighters were in the welterweight division. However, the fight never got made as Usman lost the title to Leon Edwards, and ‘Borz’ moved to the middleweight division. Now, as the combatants gear up for their fight, Khamzat Chimaev has revealed his plans of using Khabib Nurmagomedov style ‘Mountain Wrestling’.
Initially, the UAE fighter was set to face the Brazilian Paulo Costa on October 21 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. However, due to the unfortunate elbow infection, Costa was ruled out of the fight. Thus, prompting ‘The Nigerian Nightmare‘ to come in as a last-minute replacement.
According to many, Chimaev would be evenly matched in the wrestling department against Usman. However, ‘Borz’ is confident about his mountain wrestling background for the fight.
Khamzat Chimaev aims to pull a Khabib Nurmagomedov-like-wrestling against Kamaru Usman
Having a similar background, Khamzat Chimaev and Khabib Nurmagomedov boast impeccable wrestling prowess. Whilst this helped ‘The Eagle‘ retire with an unblemished 29-0 record, it has helped Chimaev maintain a 100% takedown defense.
This topic gained a lot of attention when ‘Borz‘ appeared at the UFC 294 pre-fight press conference. During the same, Chimaev addressed the questions regarding facing a wrestling expert such as Kamaru Usman. He said:
“It’s American wrestling brother. I’m a mountain wrestling man, this big difference. So actually guys, you remember like what Khabib [Nurmagomedov] did to [Justin] Gaethje. And I see in some videos when Gaethje-Usman wrestling. They wrestle like 50-50 maybe. Maybe Usman become a bit heavier, a little better but Khabib shows wrestling skills, our skills, you know. So, I’m actually, everyone knows almost same style, and the wrestling me and Khabib and going to be same sh*t man.“
With his statement, the UAE fighter hinted at a similar outcome to the Nurmagomedov-Gaethje fight. However, in spite of the similarities, Chimaev had once jokingly rejected the comparison with Nurmagomedov.
Chimaev once rejected Nurmagomedov’s comparison
Back in 2020, a rising Chimaev defeated Gerald Meerschaert within 17 seconds of the first round. Due to his fighting style, the MMA community often compares Chimaev with Nurmagomedov.
This was a talking point after his win at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs Covington. However, after a clinical knockout win, ‘Borz’ rejected the comparison with ‘The Eagle’. Instead, he wanted to be in the same bracket as the former boxing world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
However, it remains to be seen whether he will utilize his Mike Tyson-like knockout skills or Nurmagomedov-like wrestling against Usman. Nevertheless, the fans are quite excited about the matchup.
