Unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev looking for title shot with UFC middleweight win against Usman
Khamzat Chimaev (12-0, fighting out of The United Arab Emirates by way of Chechnya, Russia) looks to earn a highlight finish against Usman
UFC No. 4 welterweight
Eight first-round finishes
Six wins by knockout, five wins via submission
Holds wins over Kevin Holland, Gilbert Burns, Li Jing Liang
Khamzat Chimaev (12-0, fighting out of The United Arab Emirates by way of Chechnya, Russia) looks to earn a highlight finish against Usman
UFC No. 4 welterweight
Eight first-round finishes
Six wins by knockout, five wins via submission
Holds wins over Kevin Holland, Gilbert Burns, Li Jing Liang
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Q. How has the camp been?
00:21 A. I did a couple of fights. I did weight class before the UFC and the UFC twice. It
00:32 feels good, amazing, happy. I know that guy just wants to cut 20 kilos and die in the
00:40 best. I just want to stay in the cage if I die.
00:45 Q. When we heard that Paolo Costa wasn't going to be able to fight, were you surprised considering
00:52 the previous fights that he had he never ended up taking those fights either?
00:57 A. Actually when they said to me I'm going to fight this guy I was always thinking about
01:03 the guy can't jump out or whatever. Because he had so many fights he jumped out and he
01:10 didn't make weight. Everyone speaks about me not making weight once in my life. There
01:18 was some plans to do that, but it's not my plans. I can't say everything here. Everyone
01:31 speaks about my weight, not Paolo Costa's. I don't know how many times he missed weight.
01:38 Q. So are you moved on from Paolo Costa in your fight career or do you think you'll ever
01:43 be booked with him again?
01:44 A. No. If he holds the top of course I'm going to fight him. I'm not here to fight once or
01:49 twice. At least I'm going to be in 10 years.
01:54 Q. Were there any other names besides Kamaru Uzman that they offered you?
01:59 A. What?
02:00 Q. Did they offer anyone else besides Kamaru?
02:03 A. I don't know. In the morning my manager called me and said "you fight Uzman". I said
02:10 "ok". For me it doesn't matter. When I heard and saw the media he was jumping out I wasn't
02:21 100% sure. I wrote to Dana White and said "brother please give me someone I need to
02:26 fight". Then my manager called me and I deleted the message.
02:32 Q. Did you always know that at some point you would be fighting Kamaru, considering
02:37 he was the champion at welterweight and even he said that you two would have fought eventually?
02:43 A. What?
02:44 Q. Did you know that you would have to fight Kamaru at some point, because he was a champion
02:49 in the middleweight division and you said that you would fight him in the middleweight
02:53 division?
02:54 A. If he has the belt I should go down. But I don't have the belt, that's why I don't
02:59 go down for 77kg and cut the weight for nothing. If it's gold there of course I'm going to
03:05 cut the weight, but he couldn't take the belt so that's why he asked who is that guy. I
03:11 said "I'm Zachary Maio, that's why you come up and fight with me". And the guy comes for
03:16 money and the money fight is me.
03:19 Q. It seems fans are more excited for your fight against Kamaru than they are for Paolo.
03:25 Have you felt that now there's more interest in this fight than your previous fight?
03:30 A. Yeah of course, because since day one I get to the UFC everyone talks about Hamzat
03:35 Usman, Hamzat Usman, our wrestling skills and striking and all these things. Usman is
03:41 a fighter like me, but he's an older version of me, I'm new. It's different. Like iPhones
03:50 come out, he's iPhone 5, I'm like Pro. It's different.
03:57 Q. Obviously the last fight you won very quickly, but that was a year ago. Why has it taken
04:07 so long for you to fight again?
04:09 A. I don't know man, same question for you guys, for Dana White, for UCM. I can show
04:15 a lot of messages to these guys, "give me a fight, give me a fight". I want to fight
04:23 with the best guys and they want me to put somebody who has the name, not with the guys
04:29 who are nobody. There are a lot of guys, young guys, new guys, and I want to fight Hamzat.
04:34 I want to fight, but they didn't do anything to fight with me. It's not fun to watch if
04:39 I'm going to smash somebody, nobody knows. It's not going to make money for UC as well.
04:45 That's why I think it's taken a long time.
04:48 Q. Has it been frustrating? Everyone got to know you because you were so active and you
04:53 had that record of the closest wins and now you're sitting on the sidelines for 13 months.
04:58 A. Every week I have the fights twice in the gym. My sparring is not like a sparring like
05:10 a fight. When you spar with me, we spar real. People think I've been out a long time, so
05:21 I don't care. If I win 10 years, I'm going to be the same Hamzat in the cage.
05:28 Q. Is that what's exciting about this fight? Dana White said the winner will be getting
05:32 a title shot against Sean Strickland. If you become the champion, you know you're going
05:36 to be fighting because there's always going to be a contender.
05:39 A. Actually I don't think about this fight right now. I'm just focused on Osman. They
05:48 promised me, like I said before, that if I win against Gilbert Burns, I'm going to fight
05:55 for the title. Since then, 22 years ago, I've fought again as well, but I didn't get the
06:04 title. I don't know what's going on. I'm not after just getting the title. I'm going after
06:10 all the heads in the UFC. If I smash somebody, make money, be happy. If I finish everyone
06:17 and stop everyone, they have to give me the old belt.
06:24 Q. The fight people always thought was going to happen was you and Israel Adesanya for
06:28 the title, but now Sean Strickland is the champion. What did you think of Strickland's
06:32 win over Adesanya?
06:35 A. Actually I was thinking about if Easy didn't knock him out, he was going to win. But it
06:43 didn't happen. He couldn't knock him out in the first round. I was thinking, "Is the guy
06:48 just pressuring, pressuring? Is he going to get tired?" Because all these guys, Easy fought,
06:54 they play an easy game. Easy is good on his game, and just doing technique. You don't
07:01 need to care about just like Sean Strickland went in, like me, straight in the punch. Smash
07:10 him, and he's going to win. Just need to drive in. Now everyone knows how to win against
07:16 Easy, how to make him tired. When I fought this fight, Sean Strickland, maybe somebody
07:26 else, and after that Easy will come as well. If Easy is young, he's still fresh. We're
07:32 going to fight right now as well.
07:36 What do you think of Sean Strickland? I know you guys have trained together in the past.
07:40 Do you think that's a good matchup for you?
07:44 Match is good for me, man. He makes money.
07:49 Finally on Kamaru, how do you think your wrestling matches up with him? He has the highest takedown
07:55 defense in UFC history for someone who's been attempted 20 takedowns against him. That's
08:01 how you qualify for the stat. What do you think of his wrestling?
08:05 He's an American wrestling brother. Mountain wrestling, it's a big difference. Actually,
08:11 guys, you remember what Khabib did to Gagy? I've seen some videos when Gagy and Usman
08:22 were wrestling. They wrestled like 50/50 maybe. Maybe Usman became a bit heavier, a little
08:29 bit better. Khabib shows wrestling skills, our skills. Everyone knows almost the same
08:42 style in wrestling, me and Khabib. It's going to be the same shit.
08:48 Just because you mentioned American wrestling, Bo Nickel said he wanted this fight. He was
08:54 hoping they would call him. He said your wrestling is trash and his American wrestling would
08:58 be yours. Is that a fight you think will happen one day between you and Bo?
09:02 The guy thinks big bullshit, this guy. I don't know what he's saying. It's not wrestling
09:08 for the points. We don't play wrestling. He's fighting. I don't care if somebody takes me
09:15 down, I'm going to come up and smash his face. I don't think this guy is going to come to
09:20 the cage and take me down. It's not wrestling. We don't stay like wrestlers with this wrestling
09:27 shit. Close, man.
09:29 Hamza, just one for me. Is Walter Waite behind you? Do you think you would ever go back to
09:35 Walter Waite or is Middleweight your future?
09:37 Yeah, of course for the gold. I told a long time I tried to get that title here in Abu
09:42 Dhabi. Leon didn't say anything. If they give me the gold there, of course I'm going to
09:51 go and take my history. I'm at least out of three divisions, so I'm still focused on that.
09:58 Of course it's hard for me, it's going to be hard for me. If they make me die, I'm going
10:03 to do that.
10:05 Leon is going to fight Corby. Who do you think wins that fight?
10:09 I think Leon is going to win the fight.
10:12 Hamza, you've previously been quoted saying in the Octagon that you kill everybody. Do
10:18 you want to clarify what you meant by that and how that relates to your fight with Kamara
10:22 Usman?
10:23 What, brother?
10:24 You've previously been quoted saying in the Octagon that you kill everybody. What does
10:28 that mean and how does that relate to Usman?
10:31 If somebody fights me, if you, it doesn't matter. Your cousin, Usman, Usman's cousin.
10:41 It doesn't matter for me in the cage. I come here to kill everybody.
10:46 I don't want to fight you. But also, Paolo Costa, his elbow injury looks very serious.
10:50 I don't know if you've seen the reports that it's quite worse than what was originally
10:53 thought. Have you had a chance to see his elbow?
10:56 Yeah, I've seen. His wife putting everyone in his pictures. His wife doing everything
11:03 for him. He's made everything. Some guys sent to me his wife put out this and he's had some
11:11 problems with his elbow. I hope he's going to get good, man. The guy just tried to make
11:17 money but he lost his chance. He went home without money. Of course, when somebody gets
11:25 surgery, it's not good. Anyway, if he could come to the cage, it would be more bad for
11:32 him. I could hurt him more.
11:35 Igor Afeisi.
11:36 Magomed Ankalaev told me in an interview that it's hard to keep Sean Strickland on the ground
11:43 after a takedown. You've worked with him before. Do you agree with that?
12:02 I don't know. I've supported him, I've choked him, I've hit him. He's a good fighter.
12:15 He's a good fighter. He's a spirited guy. He's a combo, like in the movies. If we compare
12:35 him to Sean Strickland, he's a real fighter. He's not going to just sit there and wait.
12:55 He's going to fight. He's going to fight. He's going to fight. He's going to fight.
13:15 He's a good fighter. He's like an American cowboy from the movies. We've done our work
13:22 in the gym together. If they offer him to me, if I can fight him for the belt, that's
13:28 what I'll do. I'll make the money, get the belt. I have nothing against him. If you compare
13:33 us on a skill level, I'm levels above him. I'm in a whole different stratosphere from
13:38 him. He's not a threat to me. He's a good guy. He's a good fighter. If I can, I'd fight
13:43 anybody. I'd fight anyone. If there's a belt there, I'll fight him, no problem. Even Strickland.
13:48 If Paulo Costa was here, what would be the end of your fight together? What would be
14:06 the result of you fighting Paulo Costa here on Yaz Island?
14:18 If you just see him, not a fight, but if you see him on Yaz Island, Paulo Costa, what would
14:22 happen?
14:23 I could see him many times. My guys was around him. He gets stressed. Maybe that's why he
14:29 gets more infection in his elbow. My older brother here, he said to me when he says anything,
14:36 I can't do something against him. He said, "Don't punch him before the fight or after
14:43 the fight. It's not our style." He's alone with his team. We hear other guys, "This will
14:49 be bad." If me and only him and we meet somewhere, it would be different. When I come with a
14:57 lot of guys behind me, one guy just stand there and he gets stressed. I'm the man who
15:05 always fought 1-1. Sometimes a lot of people jump on me, but I fight still. Should be fighting
15:14 against again 1-1. Still, he has surgery, everything. If I beat him outside, he's going
15:24 to find excuses with his elbow.
15:28 We had a lot of opportunities to meet. It's not like I can't find him. There were opportunities.
15:34 I think the reason why he got an infection in his elbow is because he was so nervous that
15:39 he bumped into me. His infection got worse. My older brother told me, "Don't touch him.
15:44 We don't do that. We're not in a cage. If we're not in a cage, don't touch him." What can
15:49 he do? I came here with a whole team. There are a lot of guys with me. It's clear that
15:54 we can beat them. I'm not used to it. I know that you need to fight 1-1. I've won a lot
16:00 of fights 1-1. There were moments when there were a lot of people against me. I was the
16:04 only one who had to defend myself. But if we fight 1-1, it's clear what's going to happen.
16:08 Is it true that you sent personal messages to his future wife?
16:19 No. She deleted the message. She wrote to me, "Please Hamza, don't take it seriously.
16:26 He wants to make money." She deleted that. I just sent a picture to her. It's a funny
16:34 picture. It's just for fun. I don't know how I can be against anything. She wrote to me,
16:41 "It's not personal. Don't take it. We're trying to make money." I sent the picture.
16:49 I told her, "People don't make money that way. You have to be a man anyway." It's a joke.
16:57 I understand trash talk, but it has to be one line. Don't jump over this shit.
17:05 She wrote to me, "Please don't take it seriously. We're doing this to make money."
17:13 I sent her the picture. She wrote to me, "Please don't take it seriously." I understand
17:21 trash talk, but it has to be one line. Don't jump over this shit. People don't make money
17:33 that way. I understand trash talk, but it has to be one line. Don't jump over this shit.
17:41 I understand trash talk, but it has to be one line. Don't jump over this shit. People don't
17:49 make money that way. I understand trash talk, but it has to be one line. Don't jump over
17:57 this shit.
18:03 I did an interview recently with the coaches from the Killer Cliff gym. They specifically
18:07 do not believe that Kamaru Usman has a chance. Do you think that him coming out only 10 day
18:12 notice is making his chances even less? What do you think about his chances?
18:20 I think he's here to make money. He spends a lot of money putting on that. I think he
18:27 gets a lot of good money. When somebody fights me, it's different level money. That's why
18:31 he's here. I don't think so. Of course, he comes for win. Everyone comes for the fight
18:37 to win. He has already excuses. He gets the pay. I think that's why he comes. Everyone
18:46 comes for the fight to win. I think that's why he comes. Everyone comes for the fight
18:53 to win. I think that's why he comes. Everyone comes for the fight to win. I think that's
19:00 why he comes.
19:01 I think that's why he comes.
19:03 I think that's why he comes.
19:05 I think that's why he comes.
19:07 I think that's why he comes.
19:09 I think that's why he comes.
19:11 I think that's why he comes.
19:26 I think that's why he comes.
19:41 I think that's why he comes.
20:01 The guys are my best brothers. My close brothers. We've known each other a long time. We trained
20:12 wrestling a long time. When I was on the UFC, I was a fighter. They met me. Rasul helped
20:18 me with a lot of things before I get somebody. Rahman being close to me. The guys are my
20:25 best brothers. They're a little bit older than me. They've been a long time in the fighting
20:32 game. It's good to have them close. We train together, but different weight classes. The
20:40 guys have experience with fighting. It's good to have them. You don't need weight classes.
20:49 My weight class is 5-0. I'm a young guy. I'm fighting in the ACA in Russia. A lot of talent
20:57 guys have been in this camp. Fresh, young, who wants to be a fighter. I didn't bring
21:03 anyone who was old, who just wants to be in training. I want the guys who want to win.
21:11 Young, hungry. All these guys that want to fight with me in my camp. They're my brothers
21:18 from Chechnya. I love them. That's why they're close to me.
21:24 These guys are my brothers. I've known them for a long time. We've been training together
21:29 since I was in UFC. We knew each other. These guys are a little bit older. They have a lot