Belal Muhammad does not believe a word of what Khamzat Chimaev on his social media. He expresses everything he thinks of himself.
It’s been nearly a year since rising star Khamzat Chimaev stepped into the octagon. When he did, it was following a contentious fight week at UFC 279, which included a significant weight discrepancy that led to a massive main card adjustment. Since then, the future of the Swede of Chechen origin has been shrouded in great uncertainty. While UFC President Dana White has hinted that a move to middleweight will be needed, there is still talk of a return to 170lbs, where he sits at No. 4 in the rankings.
“He wants to attract attention”
During a recent interview with The Schmo, Belal Muhammad gave his views on a possible clash between Chimaev and Usman later this year. “Remember the Name” seemed more than skeptical about the chances of seeing this fight come to fruition. Muhammad believes that, like former featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor, Chimaev’s public messages are designed to keep him “relevant”, not as real appeals or statements of intent for his career.
“This new era of Twitter is a bit boring. Khamzat is one of those guys, much like Conor McGregor,” Muhammad said. “He wants attention, so he throws a random tweet here and there, but nothing ever comes of it, right? So when they say that (Chimaev vs Usman), I’m like, ‘Man, this fight is not going to happen’. They talk about it, both talk about it, and then there’s nothing.”
“You’ll see, ‘Khamzat is going to fight this guy! Khamzat is going to fight this guy! So I think it’s literally about speaking to stay in the news, to stay relevant,” Muhammad continues. “If Khamzat reaches 170 (welterweight), it will be a great fight. But I doubt he can get to 170.”
Whether Usman will join the list of fighters Chimaev has exchanged rants with since he was last seen in action in September 2022 but did not fight remains to be seen.
Do you agree with Belal Muhammad?
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