“I was holding myself” – Khamzat Chimaev foresaw Sean Strickland defeating Israel Adesanya, provided he endured first round
UFC middleweight Khamzat Chimaev has claimed that he knew Sean Strickland would get the better of Israel Adesanya in their middleweight title clash, on one condition.
The two middleweights headlined UFC 293 in a fight that was dominated by Strickland from round one. Chimaev stipulated that if 'Tarzan' got through the first round, he was always likely to secure victory.
In an interview with Muhammad Hijab, Chimaev evaluated Sean Strickland as a fighter based on his experience training with the champ:
“I knew this fight going to happen, something strange. But I was thinking like, if Sean Strickland not get down like, in first round, I was thinking he going to win the fight. But I didn’t say to anyone, I was just holding myself [from] saying it’s happening. So he win the fight. He one of the like, good fighters, not bad. But for us, it’s no problem, Inshallah.”
Chimaev also stated that he will face the winner of Strickland's title defense against Dricus Du Plessis next weekend at UFC 29:
“100%. If he has the fight now, who is winning the fight, Du Plessis, if he wins against this guy for sure we’re going to fight, 100%. They promise for me the fight and so now we gonna wait who is winning the fight and then take the belt.”
Khamzat Chimaev expresses grief over the plight of Palestinians in Gaza
Khamzat Chimaev also spoke about the ever-growing death toll of Palestinians in Gaza.
He expressed his grief and offered solidarity to the Palestinian cause by likening it to his own experience of being surrounded by war. Chimaev experienced much of the Second Chechen War in his homeland of Chechnya before he emigrated to Sweden with his family at the age of 18.
The undefeated UFC fighter said to Muhammad Hijab in the same interview:
“You feel in your heart, how hard is it. So everyone knows what’s happening in Palestine now. I’m almost the same country like this, we went through the same things. So we had the war in the country as well. [If] somebody knows about that so we know about that. So, it’s hard. Kids dying, you know, Inshallah [God willing] we hope, soon it’s over and Inshallah we make dua everyday. I don’t know what to say brother. Just no words for that man.”
Check out Khamzat Chimaev's full comments below (1:10 and 7:05):