Henry Cejudo open to training Khamzat Chimaev for “that Israel lasagna guy”, but won’t work against Kamaru Usman

By Harry Kettle - March 15, 2022

Henry Cejudo has said he’d be open to training Khamzat Chimaev for a fight against Israel Adesanya, but not Kamaru Usman.

Henry Cejudo, Khamzat Chimaev, Israel Adesanya, UFC

In his post-retirement career, Henry Cejudo has been busy splitting his time between hosting podcasts and training some of his fellow UFC fighters. The former two-weight champion may still return to the Octagon one day but for the time being, he seems to be pretty satisfied with where he’s at.

One man who you’d think is pretty set for a championship run himself is Khamzat Chimaev. “Borz” is gearing up to take on Gilbert Burns on April 9 and if he wins that bout, there’s every chance he could go on to fight for the UFC welterweight title.

In a recent episode of The Triple C & Schmo Show, Cejudo explained why he’d be willing to train Chimaev at welterweight but not at middleweight.

“The only problem is I can’t train Chimaev, he’s gonna fight The Nigerian Nightmare! But I would train him to fight that freakin’ Israel lasagna guy. I will definitely help you out for that one but if you’re gonna fight The Nigerian Nightmare man, I’m gonna be out. That’s all you brother. Anyway, Khamzat Chimaev is the real deal but so is Gilbert Burns and we’re gonna find out at UFC 273 to see if he is the real deal – which we believe he is.”

While a move to 185 pounds could certainly be in Chimaev’s future, he can’t afford to look past someone like Gilbert Burns. He’s going to be the favourite in the eyes of many but as we’ve come to learn, Burns thrives in the underdog role.

Do you think we will see Khamzat Chimaev or Henry Cejudo fight for a UFC title before the end of 2022? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments, BJPENN Nation!