Khamzat Chimaev has proved time and time again that he is a strong candidate to become a future welterweight champion in the UFC. After his impressive win over Gilbert Burns, The Swedish fighter would be most likely one win away from a title shot.
With that being said, the main question that would come to every fan’s mind is whether The Borz has the ability to outclass The Nigerian Nightmare in a title fight. Until his recent fight against Burns, Chimaev was an indestructible force as he finished all four of his opponents without suffering any significant damage.
However, he suffered a ton of damage when he took on #2 welterweight contender Gilbert Burns. The Brazilian welterweight landed a substantial amount of significant strikes and almost finished Chimaev in the second round. Consequently, Michael Bisping and many other criticized him for his strategy.
Although Chimaev wouldn’t adopt a similar gameplan against Usman because rushing in and striking could prove fatal to him as Kamaru possesses a significant amount of power in his strikes and has better durability than Burns to stand in the pocket and outstrike.
In terms of wrestling, both the fighters are equally good, so the outcome of the fight would depend upon the striking of these two welterweights. Khamzat’s striking has improved significantly over the last few fights and that was at display against a strong welterweight like Burns.
This shows that this fight could go either way and Khamzat’s striking power is also unquestionable. Therefore he definitely has the tools to defeat Usman. But in the end, Usman’s experience of going into five round battles and his cardio give him a huge edge over Chimaev.
Key Elements for Khamzat Chimaev to beat Kamaru Usman
A matchup between Khamzat Chimaev and Kamaru Usman would be incredibly close and it will be unfair to judge the Swedish fighter purely from his recent performance against Gilbert Burns. Owing to the fact that The Borz would fight smartly using his height advantage to his benefit. Besides he can pick Usman apart from a distance with his powerful leg kicks.
Moreover, Usman has some holes in his game as he tends to overextend and leaves himself open while striking. In his fights against Burns and Graves, they rocked him and almost finished Usman with their striking. If Khamzat manages to do anything similar to that then the outcome would go in his favour as he has great knockout power.
Do let us know in the comments section if you think Khamzat Chimaev can beat Kamaru Usman after his recent win at UFC 273.
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