"If you want to beat Khamzat, you fight him now" - Ali Abdelaziz on potential Kamaru Usman vs. Khamzat Chimaev fight
Kamaru Usman's manager Ali Abdelaziz rates surging welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev highly as a fighter and believes he'll only get better with time. Having said that, the CEO of Dominance MMA isn't sure whether 'Borz' is ready to challenge Usman for the welterweight title just yet.
In fact, Abdelaziz feels that now is the best time for 'The Nigerian Nightmare' to fight Chimaev if he wants to beat the Russian-born Swede. The high-profile MMA manager claimed that Chimaev has shown some vulnerabilities in his game that Usman will be able to exploit in a potential clash.
Khamzat Chimaev has opened as a betting favorite (-125) in a potential matchup with Colby Covington (+105).
He moves to an underdog (+115) in a potential title fight against UFC champ Kamaru Usman (-135). Odds via @betonline_ag.
Abdelaziz feels that Chimaev can plug the holes in his game over the next couple of years, but right now, Kamaru Usman would be a bad matchup for him. He also made it clear that Usman is ready to take on anyone and would be more than willing to defend the title against Chimaev if the UFC books the matchup.
During a recent interaction with ESPN MMA's Marc Raimondi, Abdelaziz stated:
"Khamzat is young, you know. If you want to beat Khamzat, you fight him now, you understand, because you're still very young in the sport. Remember, you have five fights but I think it's an open echelon in this division, you know, I think it's everybody else and it is Kamaru but when you talk about Kamaru it's a completely different class. In one or two more years he's [Chimaev is] gonna be very very hard to beat but right now he's human. He can beat everybody [and] people can beat him you know."
Watch the full interview below:
What's next for Kamaru Usman?
Kamaru Usman is the current No.1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' is on a 15-fight win streak inside the octagon and has five successful title defenses already. Usman will be looking to successfully defend the belt for the sixth time when he fights Leon Edwards later this year.
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Although the fight is yet to be officially announced, Dana White has confirmed that Usman vs. Edwards is likely to come to fruition in 2022. Usman and Edwards crossed paths for the first time at UFC on Fox 17: Dos Anjos vs. Cerrone back in 2015. Usman emerged victorious via unanimous decision on that occasion.
Edwards himself is undefeated in his last 10 fights inside the octagon and will be looking to earn retribution in the rematch.