Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Danny Segura

Leon Edwards: Khamzat Chimaev ‘a good fighter,’ but not ‘what the UFC was building him to be’

Leon Edwards thinks Khamzat has been overvalued by the UFC.

The UFC welterweight champion has no problem recognizing Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) as a top fighter in his division, but won’t go as far as giving him the full credit his hype has generated. Edwards (20-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) thinks the UFC has built Chimaev to be more of a threat than what he actually poses at 170 pounds.

“He’s a good fighter, (but) I don’t think he’s what the UFC was building him to be, like this untouchable monster,” Edwards told Michael Bisping in a recent interview. “He’s a solid fighter, he’s good, but there’s always ways to beat these guys. This is why I’m on an 11-fight win streak.

“I’m not just going to go out there and scrap with you. I know how to fight.”

Edwards is expecting to fight Kamaru Usman once again in a trilogy bout at UFC 286 in London on March 18. The bout has yet to be made official by the promotion.

Obviously, Edwards intended on keeping his title and moving on from the Usman rivalry. If successful, Edwards has Chimaev on the list of opponents he’d like to defend his belt against. The Englishman would like to see Chimaev fight one more time and prove he can make welterweight before squaring off with him.

“He’s on my list as well that I want to take out,” Edwards said. “So let him go make weight, probably fight Colby (Covington) or something like that, and we can run that on as well.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.