"Very Khabib-ish but he has more power in his hands" - Brendan Schaub believes Kamaru Usman doesn't want to fight Khamzat Chimaev
Brendan Schaub doubts Kamaru Usman wants to fight rising contender Khamzat Chimaev. The retired fighter-turned-podcaster recently gave his take on the rise of Chimaev and has likened him to Khabib Nurmagomedov, the former lightweight champion.
Chimaev is rumored to be taking on top 170-pounder Gilbert Burns in his next bout. If he wins that, which Schaub believes he will, the former UFC heavyweight doesn't think Usman will be too interested in taking him on. During the latest episode of The Schaub Show, 'Big Brown' said:
“I don’t see anyone beating him. I’m not saying he steamrolls through him right now, but with Kamaru’s injuries, I don’t know how much Kamaru has. I don’t know. Khamzat obviously had the COVID s*** but other than that, I don’t know who beats him.”
He added:
“He’s very Khabib-ish, but he has more power in his hands. His mentality, it’s scary s***.”
Watch the latest episode of The Schaub Show below:
Right now, there are very few fighters in the UFC who are as talked-about as Khamzat Chimaev. 'Borz' has gotten off to a blistering start in the UFC having picked up four stoppage victories since joining the promotion. The undefeated phenom boasts an overall record of 10-0 and has finished all of his opponents to date.
Chimaev has repeatedly called out the reigning welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman. He has vowed to dethrone 'The Nigerian Nightmare' by the end of the the year.
The continued success of Kamaru Usman
Since becoming the UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman has been pretty much unstoppable. While he's had to go through some adversity in a few of his fights, that doesn't take away from the fact that he just keeps on winning. Moreover, he seemingly gets better with every passing fight.
Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns have all fallen to 'The Nigerian Nightmare' since he won the strap. He'll hope to add Leon Edwards to that list if they meet - as rumored - later this year.
Some have suggested he could make a move up to middleweight but with his close friend Israel Adesanya being the champion, that seems unlikely at this stage.