Chimaev: UFC is trying to protect Adesanya from me

Undefeated Khamzat Chimaev thinks the UFC is trying to protect Israel Adesanya by saving him a fight with the Chechen. The 28-year-old MMA fighter himself hinted at a possible fight with the former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman just a few days ago, but he does not rule out a fight with the hegemon in the 84-kilogram Israel Adesanya.

"For Israel, there is no other opponent but me. If you ask people, they'll want to see me fight. I'm a bad opponent for him. Everyone knows he's going to lose the title against me. That's why they keep it. The company created it and now they don't want to drop it. I'll finish it even without punches. Then all his history will be deleted. They don't want to sacrifice him," said the fighter of the Swedish All Stars on his YouTube channel.

Adesanya has already "cleaned" the division with wins over Robert Whittaker, Alex Pereira, Jared Cannonier, Marvin Secondi, Paolo Costa, Yoel Romero. The Nigerian even moved up a category looking for challenges. The Chechen believes he will be an insurmountable test for the holder of the middleweight belt.

"There is no one to fight with anymore. He beats all the strikers, but I'm a fighter. I'm the biggest name without a title. Whoever fights me will get more money. When I fought with Durinho, I was not in the main fight of the evening, but everyone was waiting for my fight", adds Hamzat.

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