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John McCarthy believes Khamzat Chimaev and Kamaru Usman are likely to collide at some stage down the line this year. According to 'Big' John, Chimaev will be propelled to title-contender status with another big win in his next outing and could then be booked to fight 'The Nigerian Nightmare'.
In a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, McCarthy shared his thoughts on a potential clash between Kamaru Usman and Khamzat Chimaev. According to the former UFC referee, a fight between Chimaev and Usman will be too close to call and both men will have equal chances of clinching it.
McCarthy pointed out that while the Swede is a cleaner and more polished striker than Kamaru Usman, the champ has more power in his strikes. He also said it'd be interesting to see them grappling with one another.
Usman has an unprecedented 100 percent takedown defense record in his career, while Chimaev has managed to take down most of the opponents he's fought thus far.
"It's even, I really believe it is...I've seen Chimaev and I've seen his stand up and it's clean. I do think that Kamaru has more pure power. I think Chimaev's got a very clean stand up and I think Usman's is getting better but he's got more power. It's kind of like the Ciryl Gane vs Francis Ngannou effect. Wrestling wise, Kamaru has lived off of his wrestling. He has got I believe a 100 percent takedown defense that no one's ever taken him down. This will be the one guy who really tries," McCarthy said.
Check out the latest episode of Weighing In podcast below:
Khamzat Chimaev feels he's on track to fight for the welterweight title in 2022
Khamzat Chimaev feels like 2022 is going to be his year. In a recent post, Chimaev made his title ambitions clear for this year. Sharing an edited image of him and Usman facing off, 'Borz' captioned it "2022, InSHallah."
Khamzat Chimaev is unlikely to be afforded an immediate title shot. However, if he manages to pick up one or two big wins down the line, we may see him share the octagon with Usman by the end of the year.
The undefeated fighter has taken the UFC by storm since making his promotional debut in 2020. 'Borz' has managed to win all four of his fights inside the octagon and has finished all his opponents.
