Khamzat Chimaev is one of the fastest rising stars in the UFC, but even he doesn’t want to antagonise the legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The Russians fell out over comments made online in regards to Chimaev ‘smashing’ Khabib.
While the pair have gone through a rocky patch, Chimaev has moved to patch things up with the retired former UFC lightweight champion.
As he explains, it’s all been a misunderstanding and he meant nothing personal by his comments.
“Some guy write something about me like, ‘Khabib going to smash you,’ and I answer for this guy, but it was my wrong because I answer to this bullsh*t guy that nobody knows,” Chimaev told Frontkick.online.
“I answer him if he wants to smash me, I’m going to smash him, too. [I answered] like this because I’m a real man and I’m going to answer like that. If somebody says he’ll smash you, what do you want me to say?
“He said, ‘Khabib going to smash you,’ and in my head, if somebody says he’s going to smash you, of course I’m going to answer, ‘Nobody is going to smash me. I’m going to smash everybody.’
“If you’re a real man, you have to think like that, [unless] you’re some chicken you can’t stay up. Sometimes you forget you’re famous, and I become famous like one day before, and still sometimes and you wake up and think it’s normal life for you.”
Chimaev had a very fast rise to fame in the UFC. The 27-year-old is 9-0 in his UFC career but made headlines after finishing two opponents in the space of 10 days on Fight Island.
He would then knock out another 56 days later to record the fastest two and three-fight win streaks in UFC history.
All nine of his victories have been submissions or knockouts and his legend has grown very quickly.
Still, he didn’t want to offend Khabib. He says he loves The Eagle and feels a connection with him due to their backgrounds and beliefs.
“This guy, I looked up to him in the beginning and I still look up to him because he became a champ and he’s one of the best fighters in the world,” Chimaev said.
“People think I hate him, but I love him because he’s Muslim. I’m Muslim.
“It’s like the same, like he comes from some village like me, same country. Small republic like Chechnya, Dagestan, like this is still the same. I have a lot of brothers from Dagestan, and yeah, I’m Muslim, he’s Muslim – alhamdulillah.”
Chimaev has hit a rough patch since his record-breaking stretch as a result of COVID.
UFC tried to reschedule his fight with Edwards three times before complications in Chimaev’s recovery forced them to move on from the fight.
‘Borz’ will make his return to the octagon against China’s Li Jingliang at UFC 267, which is widely expected to take place on Fight Island.
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