Khamzat Chimaev ‘Triggered’ by comparisons to Khabib Nurmagomedov
Ahead of his return next month at UFC 308, the unbeaten, Khamzat Chimaev claims he was just “triggered” by recent comparisons to former undisputed lightweight kingpin, Khabib Nurmagomedov, claiming would not react to critics who claimed the Russian would likely beat him handily anymore.
Chimaev, the current number twelve ranked middleweight challenger, is slated to return to action at the end of next month in the co-main event of UFC 308, taking on former divisional gold holder, Robert Whittaker in a five round co=headliner clash.
Sidelined since he improved to 13-0 back in October of last year, Chechen-born challenger, Chimaev most recently turned in a controversial majority decision win over former welterweight champion and pound-for-pound number one, Kamaru Usman.
Ruled from a pairing with the above-mentioned Whittaker back in June amid a reported battle with a “violent” illness, Chimaev has been the subject of recent barbs from current middleweight kingpin, Dricus du Plessis amid his continued lack of activity in combat sports.
Khamzat Chimaev talks comparisons to Khabib Nurmagomedov
However, during his initial rise in the Octagon, AllStars MMA staple, Chimaev drew massive comparisons due to his early dominance to that of Hall of Fame inductee, Nurmagomedov — which he claims “triggered” him.
“I just broke into the UFC [and] — they started comparing me with Khabib (Nurmagomedov) and other fighters,” Khamzat Chimaev told Red Corner MMA during a recent interview. “With Adlan Amagov, in particular. Of course, when you achieve some good results, they say saying ‘oh, he’s like Khabib or Adlan Amagov…’ But everyone has their own achievement. I’ve got mine, Khabib and Adlan has got theirs — every fighter wants to create his own legacy.”
“So it doesn’t feel good to be compared to anybody else,” Khamzat Chimaev explained. “I just got triggered as someone said that Khabib would smash me, so I responded to that dude. Although, I should have not done it. I said, ‘Ok, if Khabib wants to smash me, I am ready to smash him’ and they just hyped that up.”
