Khamzat Chimaev believes UFC brass is protecting Israel Adesanya
May 25, 2023
Dubai [UAE], May 25 : UFC Middleweight, Khamzat Chimaev thinks that the UFC does not want him to fight Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Chimaev believes that the champion will be an easy fight for him due to his weak wrestling defence and is being protected due to his star power.
Chimaev suspects that the UFC management is protecting Adesanya as he is the 'cash cow' for the company. In his recent YouTube video, Chimaev talks about his next fight plan and discussed a potential fight with the current 185lbs champion Adesanya.
Chimaev has been absent from the octagon since September last year after dominantly defeating Kevin Holland. Borz is undefeated and fights in the UFC's Middleweight and Welterweight divisions.
Since his last fight, he has been calling everybody out for a fight from former Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman to current Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. However, his next fight is still not confirmed by the UFC.
On the other hand, Adesanya was clearing out his division and defeated some of the top contenders until he ran into his Kickboxing rival, Alex Pereira. After suffering from his first loss in the division, Adesanya bounced back and reclaimed the Middleweight throne at UFC 287. Adesanya is now expected to fight the winner of Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis.
In his YouTube video, Chimaev pointed to the fact that the fans want to see them fight and went on to acknowledge the star power of the champion.
"For Israel, there's nobody there - only me, So if you spoke about money, if you ask the fans, they want to see me and Israel. I'm a bad matchup for him. Everyone knows he's going to lose the title. That's why they save that guy."
"You know they built up him, They don't want to lose him that fast. (I'd) finish that guy without punches, and that's why they're scared. Then (his) story's dead, you know? They don't want to kill that guy. Maybe the guy makes money for them, but I still make money, as well, so I don't know what's going on." He added.
Chimaev also compared his fighting style with the Kiwi and said he would defeat the champ easily as his wrestling is too elite for Izzy.
"Who is he going to fight? There is nobody. He wins against all the strikers, and I'm a wrestler, a killer. I squeeze the heads of my opponents. I'm the biggest name without the belt. When you fight with me, it's more money, more fans. When I fight, everyone is waiting for my fight. When I fought with Gilbert, we weren't main event, everyone was waiting for us."
