Belal Muhammad breaks down a potential Khamzat Chimaev vs. Colby Covington fight; reveals a key factor that’ll determine its result
Belal Muhammad is currently targeting fights against fellow top-tier UFC welterweights such as Khamzat Chimaev, Leon Edwards, and Colby Covington. On that note, a hot-button topic in the MMA community as of late has been a potential fight between Chimaev and Covington.
UFC president Dana White recently suggested that the organization is likely to book the Chimaev-Covington matchup next. The fight could be pivotal if it does materialize, as beating Covington would earn ‘Borz’ a UFC welterweight title shot.
Khamzat Chimaev opens as the favourite in a potential fight with Colby Covington:
Khamzat Chimaev -125 (4/5)
Colby Covington +105 (21/20)
(odds via @betonline_ag) 👀 https://t.co/og5BnvudvK
Speaking to ESPN MMA’s Marc Raimondi, Belal Muhammad touched upon a key factor in the Chimaev-Covington fight. He believes that a shorter fight favors Chimaev, whereas a longer one gives the edge to Covington:
“I think the key to that one is if it’s a five-rounder or a three-rounder. If it goes five rounds, if it’s a five-rounder, it plays into Colby’s world just because he has cardio. But I think that Khamzat’s striking’s ten times better. I think Khamzat’s grappling’s better than Colby’s. I think that he could probably finish him and knock him out. If it gets past the first and second round, then that’s when cardio and gas tank will play a role in it, I think.”
Belal Muhammad is coming off an impressive unanimous decision win over Vicente Luque in their rematch that headlined the UFC on ESPN: Luque vs. Muhammad 2 event on April 16. Muhammad exacted revenge for his 2016 knockout loss against Luque and has vowed to capture the UFC welterweight title sooner rather than later.
Watch Belal Muhammad’s conversation with Marc Raimondi in the video below:
Henry Cejudo cautions Khamzat Chimaev not to overtrain
Khamzat Chimaev engaged in a grueling three-round slugfest with Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 on April 9, defeating Burns via unanimous decision. While the odds suggested that ‘Borz’ would spectacularly dominate Burns, the back-and-forth matchup has resulted in the undefeated fighter being criticized by some for not living up to his hype.
last night!This was WAR 💥
@KChimaev and @GilbertDurinho brought the 🔥 last night! https://t.co/LMklFEpYCX
Speaking to Helen Yee for Helen Yee Sports, MMA legend Henry Cejudo weighed in on the same and claimed that Khamzat Chimaev was simply overtrained:
"I think one of his deals is like, he looked overtrained. Sometimes when people look really good then you. They look really good but then they get tired. It's because they're just overtrained. So that's one of the advice that I would give is 'Hey man, tone it down. Just because you last doesn't mean you're getting worse, you're not dedicated'. This a big mistake that all these fighters make."
See the interview with Helen Yee below: