Khamzat Chimaev responds after Kamaru Usman claims he’s “nothing special” in the cage

Khamzat Chimaev is responding after Kamaru Usman claimed that he’s ‘nothing special’ in the cage.

It was Kamaru Usman (20-4 MMA) vs. the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev (13-0 MMA) in a middleweight bout last October at UFC 294. The outcome was a majority decision loss for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’.

With that defeat, Usman at 36, has 3 consecutive losses in the cage.

On the ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast with Henry Cejudo, Usman was asked if he saw something special in Chimaev, to which he responded:

“You get in those type of fights and those positions to where you build something up in your mind and in your head. And everyone’s now – especially now in this machine of the UFC, of MMA – you build him up in your head.”

“Then you get in there and you go, ‘That wasn’t special.’ There was nothing different that I haven’t seen. Had I given it a little bit more, had I have given myself a little bit more credit, that would have turned out totally different.”

Continuing, Kamaru Usman played out the fight saying:

“We get out there, and right away he takes a shot, and I’m just like, ‘Oh, sh*t. He’s a little bigger than I thought, but nothing special. He’s on top and I’m like, ‘These strikes don’t really hurt. Nothing special.’”

Concluding, Usman said:

“Then I got up to my feet, and it was the first punch I hit him with, I’m like, ‘Oh, OK. I can do this.’ But it was after the end of the fight, it was just in my head saying, ‘Why? Why did I doubt myself. Don’t do that again.’”

Well, Chimaev took notice of Usman’s commentary and responded on ‘X‘:

https://twitter.com/KChimaev/status/1768511206330114246

Don’t talk too much musman you’re lost 🤫 This people are proud of their losses. Wtf 😂”

Chimaev nor Usman have had their next opponents named or a timeframe laid out for their return to the Octagon.

What do you think of Usman’s take that Chimaev is ‘nothing special’? Who would you like to see the 2 fighters get in the cage with next?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!