Israel Adesanya shares his thoughts on Khamzat Chimaev: “He’s a beast. But he’s a beast at 170”

Israel Adesanya has shared his thoughts on Khamzat Chimaev ahead of UFC 273.

It will be Khamzat Chimaev (10-0 MMA) vs Gilbert Burns (20-4 MMA) in a welterweight bout this Saturday, April 9th, at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

Chimaev will be looking for his 11th win, while Burns will be looking to hand ‘Borz’ his first career loss.

During his guest appearance on the Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast, Israel Adesanya discussed Chimaev saying:

“This guy fights at welterweight. He’s fought at middleweight one time, and he fought a low-ranked guy. He definitely can beat some middleweights, but I’m like show me something, SHOW ME SOMETHING. His last fight was impressive. I might not like you, but if I’m impressed by what you do, I will give you props. He’s a beast. But he’s a beast at 170.”

Image Credit: UFC

Khamzat’s last fight was at UFC 267 in October 2021 against Li Jingliang (18-7 MMA) where he won via submission (rear-naked choke) in Round 1, 3:16.

Burns last fight was back in July of 2021 at UFC 264 where he defeated Stephen Thompson (16-6 MMA).

Of course Israel Adesanya (21-1 MMA) is the undisputed middleweight champion. Most recently defeating Robert Whittaker (24-6 MMA) via unanimous decision at UFC 271, in February of this year, to retain the title.

Chimaev continues to be courting an eventual fight with Adesanya.  It was after Adesanya’s victory at UFC 271 that the Chechen prospect took to Twitter to call him out saying:

“Adesanya easy money for me, 0 wrestling. 1 round I’m gonna kill him!”

At the UFC 273 pre-fight press conference, Chimaev once again noted his interest in fighting ‘The Last Stylebender’.

It seems though that Adesanya is not all that interested in getting into the cage with Chimaev in the near future.

Perhaps Chimaev will ‘show me something’ this weekend in the Octagon with Gilbert Burns. Will you be watching? Who are you betting on?