Chael Sonnen lauds former UFC champion for calling out Khamzat Chimaev: "This is how legends are made"
Khamzat Chimaev is very rarely called out by UFC fighters as the streaking welterweight remains unbeaten in his professional mixed martial arts career. His six fights in the UFC have garnered a fearsome reputation for him, but that did not deter former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman from calling him out in a recent interview.
Speaking to ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto, Usman named a potential pay-per-view headliner between him and Chimaev as the fight to make. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' is in unfamiliar territory after suffering the first two losses of his UFC career in consecutive title fights against Leon Edwards.
He said:
"I think a fight with myself and Khamzat [Chimaevl, boom. And if [Leon Edwards] keeps winning, I think that that's a fourth fight for sure. For me, now, I'm just kind of in a place where it's like, I'm having fun with it. I'm having fun. So, it's like, 'What's the biggest, funnest [sic], most intense fight that really makes me feel that?' And, you know, there's a couple fights -- That [Chimaev] is the fight right there."
Check out Kamaru Usman's complete comments on YouTube:
Former UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen was all praise for Kamaru Usman's bold call-out of Khamzat Chimaev. He wrote in a tweet:
"Stud. When you talk about legacy, all you’re talking about is how the onlookers are going to refer to you in the future. This is how legends are made."
Check out Chael Sonnen's tweet below:
Stud. When you talk about legacy, all you’re talking about is how the onlookers are going to refer to you in the future. This is how legends are made. twitter.com/espnmma/status…
Fans react to Kamaru Usman's call-out of unbeaten star Khamzat Chimaev
Both Kamaru Usman and Khamzat Chimaev do not have a scheduled fight and are yet to be booked for a fight card. A potential welterweight bout against Usman could be Chimaev's biggest career fight as he has only faced one top 10 welterweight so far in Gilbert Burns.
Fans questioned the thought process by Usman as they felt certain that 'Borz' would come out on top in the matchup.
"Usman loses to khamzat so idk why he’s planning for after that lol"
@espnmma @bokamotoESPN Usman loses to khamzat so idk why he’s planning for after that lol
"It’d be a good fight, but no way he beats Khamzat."
@espnmma @bokamotoESPN It’d be a good fight, but no way he beats Khamzat.
@espnmma @bokamotoESPN I don't like Khamzat, but yeah no Usman is going to sleep if he faces him.
@espnmma @bokamotoESPN Not sure usman wins that..
@espnmma @bokamotoESPN Khamzat would run through Kamaru, his chin isn’t where it once was, Khamzat carries great power, and Kamaru has no shot if it goes to the ground.
Others called for Kamaru Usman to take on the unbeaten Uzbek Shavkat Rakhmonov.
"Khamzat's no longer in the division, don't duck Shavkat"
@espnmma @bokamotoESPN Khamzat’s no longer in the division, don’t duck Shavkat
@espnmma @bokamotoESPN Khamzat is at 185 and mia anyway. The fight to make at 170 is Usman vs Shavkat. Former Champ vs Most dangerous prospect https://t.co/q05nkQK3uZ
@espnmma @bokamotoESPN Khamzat is already going to 185. Just fight Shavkat and winner gets the titleshot after the winner of Burns vs. Belal fight for the belt
The uncertainty looming around Khamzat Chimaev's weight class was also brought up by fans.
@espnmma @bokamotoESPN We gotta find out for sure if Khamzats going to 185 for good or not, I hate that he keeps jumping between divisions, but this would be a crazy fight
@espnmma @bokamotoESPN Khamzat is a middleweight now.
Fans also showed respect to Usman for not hesitating to call for a dangerous opponent on the back of two significant losses.
"Got to love the competitiveness of Usman"
@espnmma @bokamotoESPN Got to love the competitiveness of Usman