After watching middleweight champion Israel Adesanya emerge victorious in his rematch with Robert Whittaker on Saturday night, Khamzat Chimaev made it clear he believes he can beat him, and it seems that he’s not the only one.
“[Israel Adesanya] easy money for me, 0 wrestling,” Chimaev wrote to the champ after the fight. “1 round I’m gonna kill him.”
It seems that Chimaev isn’t alone in thinking he has the edge over the current No.2 on the UFC’s pound-for-pound list as former double-champ Henry Cejudo also believes he has what it takes to seize the belt from ‘The last Stylebender.’
“From what I’ve heard from a lot of people is that this dude literally trains like nobody has ever seen before,” Cejudo said during an interview with The Schmo. “When you’re a wrestler and you’re like that — and he’s driven. Man, I could see him easily beating Israel Adesanya.
Cejudo followed that up with a post on Twitter to double-down on his prediction.
“I don’t even gamble, but if I was a betting man, @KChimaev is the man that will stop Israel Adesanya. If @stylebender could beat him I will shut up, I will apologize. But if that fight ever happens, I got Khamzat. He’s a whole other animal.”
Many of the best sportsbooks and new online casinos 2022 are yet to open up betting markets for the potential fight, but many experts are predicting the odds to open very even for the blockbuster showdown.
Chimaev is currently 4-0 in the UFC, including two wins at middleweight against John Phillips (submission) and Gerald Meerschaert (KO), taking his overall MMA record to a perfect 10-0.
