Khamzat Chimaev believes money could be to blame for Israel Adesanya’s “boring” fights: “When you’re hungry, you fight crazy, like he did before”
Khamzat Chimaev has given his thoughts on why some fans believe Israel Adesanya’s recent fights have been boring.
Over the course of the last few years, Israel Adesanya has done a good job of establishing himself as the best middleweight in the UFC – and potentially in all of mixed martial arts. ‘The Last Stylebender’ has been able to turn back every challenger that’s come his way and as we look ahead to him potentially clashing with Alex Pereira, you’d have to imagine most fans will fancy the champ to get the job done again.
However, he hasn’t been able to escape criticism, largely because a lot of critics feel as if his last couple of performances have been quite boring.
That was a particularly vocal thought process in his battle with Jared Cannonier earlier this month and in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Khamzat Chimaev explained what he thinks has happened to Izzy.
“I don’t know what happened with him last time. He (fought) better before. Now, maybe he’s not that hungry, you know?” Chimaev said. “He’s driving like, crazy cars and this sh*t — has a lot of money. It makes some people — they change. When you’re hungry, you fight crazy, like he did before. Now, I don’t know. He just makes the points and wins the fights. It’s boring.”
Quotes via MMA News
Chimaev has spent most of his time in the UFC at welterweight but given how quickly he’s been able to tear through that division, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him make his way up to 185 pounds in the future – where Adesanya could be waiting.
Do you think Khamzat Chimaev has a point when it comes to the lack of excitement in Israel Adesanya’s fights? Will we ever see the two square off inside the Octagon?
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Israel Adesanya Khamzat Chimaev UFC