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Khamzat Chimaev has resumed full training and will make his return to the UFC octagon on March 13 against Leon Edwards in the main event clash of UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Chimaev.
In a recent video posted by MMA Fighting, Khamzat Chimaev is seen destroying heavy bags in training ahead of his scheduled fight against the Brit while sharing details about his health and nature of training for the first ever five-round fight of his career.
"Now I'm back to hundred percent. My lungs are good. We work hard day after day. I've always worked hard but we have never trained for five rounds before. Now I train extra hard with longer sessions. I want to smash him (Leon Edwards), brother. I want to destroy him," Khamzat Chimaev said.
The fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards is believed to be a potential title eliminator fight for the welterweight strap currently held by the Nigerian Nightmare Kamaru Usman who is scheduled to fight Gilbert Burns at UFC 258.
Originally scheduled to happen on the final fight night card of 2020, the fight between Chimaev and Edwards was cancelled when Leon Edwards tested positive for covid-19, becoming the first and the last fighter to lose a big opportunity in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The March 13 meeting between the pair is UFC's third attempt to put the fight together after it was reported that Khamzat Chimaev was suffering from lingering effects of Covid-19 infection resulting in his withdrawal from the January 20 fight night card.
Khamzat Chimaev wants to collect heads in not one but two divisions
Khamzat Chimaev can easily be considered as the hottest prospect in the UFC right now. After scoring three wins under the UFC umbrella in a short span of 66 days, Chimaev gained immense popularity in the MMA community due to his prowess in both striking and grappling department and an ability to win the fight wherever it goes.
While laying out his future plans in the UFC, the undefeated Chimaev revealed that his goal is to beat every top fighter in UFC's welterweight and middleweight division.
"I want to take his head and collect every head like this. I have nine right now but soon I'll have ten. Then we'll continue collecting more. I've never seen Edwards fight, I've only seen highlights of Usman beating him. If Usman beat him like that, I'll demolish him. He has no knockout power or anything special at all. I'll dominate both him and Usman. Take everyone's head, both in welterweight and middleweight... That's my goal," Khamzat Chimaev said.
But before Khamzat Chimaev achieves his ultimate goal, he has a huge mountain to climb when he fights No.3 ranked Leon Edwards on March 13. Currently riding an eight-fight win streak, Edwards is undefeated in the UFC since 2015 when he lost to Kamaru Usman and holds wins over notable fighters like Vicente Luque, Gunnar Nelson, Rafael Dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone.
The fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards is a win-win situation for the UFC and Dana White. Despite having been in the UFC for almost seven years and putting a streak together, Leon Edwards does not have a high-profile name on his resume and with all the hype around his name, Chimaev is still not a top-ranked fighter.
Winner of this fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards will take all the momentum from his opponent and emerge as a potential challenger to the welterweight title.
