{"id":291445,"date":"2023-10-20T22:24:56","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T22:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=291445"},"modified":"2023-10-20T22:24:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T22:24:56","slug":"usman-has-the-tools-to-be-a-nightmare-for-chimaev-at-ufc-294","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/mma\/usman-has-the-tools-to-be-a-nightmare-for-chimaev-at-ufc-294\/","title":{"rendered":"Usman has the tools to be a nightmare for Chimaev at UFC 294"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Kamaru Usman has the tools to be a nightmare for Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294&#8230; his takedown defence is 97%, motivation is sky high after back-to-back defeats and he will relish the odds being against him in Abu Dhabi<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Khamzat Chimaev was due to fight Paulo Costa but Brazilian pulled out injured<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Kamaru Usman has stepped in on late notice and match-up is even better<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Stats show how &#8216;Nigerian Nightmare&#8217; could match up well with unbeaten star\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t so long ago that Kamaru Usman walked the UFC world like a God and at times seemed almost untouchable.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The former welterweight champion reigned supreme, adding deadly striking to his ridiculous engine and grappling ability.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He saw off Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns but was unceremoniously dethroned by Leon Edwards&#8217; instantly iconic head kick and then lost the trilogy in London by decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These were hefty setbacks, no doubt, but &#8216;Nigerian Nightmare&#8217; is a dangerous wounded animal and could bounce back in incredible style at UFC 294 after taking the fight with Khamzat Chimaev on nine days notice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chimaev is the coming force in the UFC. He remains undefeated and has looked frankly ridiculous in much of his octagon time so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/17\/12\/69365283-12639775-Usman_lost_twice_against_Leon_Edwards_and_is_looking_to_bounce_b-a-43_1697543283071.jpg\" height=\"426\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Kamaru Usman (right) is looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats by Leon Edwards\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/17\/15\/65943733-12639775-Khamzat_Chimaev_back_remains_undefeated_and_faces_Usman_at_UFC_2-a-1_1697554505528.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Khamzat Chimaev (back) remains undefeated and faces Usman at UFC 294 on Saturday\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Covid, injuries and weight issues have slowed his march but the fearsome Chechen-born Swede but his momentum will reach warp speed again this weekend with a big win.<\/p>\n<p>It is a truly compelling match-up and a far more exciting one than the initial bout with Paulo Costa.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chimaev isn&#8217;t a man to have sleepless nights about any opponent but in Usman, he might have stumbled across a foe with the perfect style to beat him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The foundation of Chimaev&#8217;s game is his freakish wrestling ability that sees him throw around opponents at will.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Nobody does this to Usman. The 36-year-old boasts a takedown percentage of 97 across his career &#8211; with Edwards being the first man to secure one.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chimaev on the other hand, is successful with almost 60% of the takedowns he attempts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Something has to give. It was evident from Usman&#8217;s fights against fellow decorated wrestler Covington that their respective grappling abilities cancelled out, making it a fist fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If the same happens here, Usman will believe he has the edge on the feet.<\/p>\n<p>He has added polish to his crisp strikes and his jab is a wonderful weapon. We are yet to see the same kind of clinical edge from Chimaev.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/17\/15\/76661369-12639775-Usman_left_has_great_takedown_defence_as_does_Chimaev_meaning_it-a-2_1697554505530.jpg\" height=\"634\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Usman (left) has great takedown defence, as does Chimaev, meaning it could be a stand-up battle<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/17\/15\/65943737-12639775-Chimaev_left_has_looked_sensational_so_far_and_remains_undefeate-a-3_1697554505530.jpg\" height=\"457\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Chimaev (left) has looked sensational so far and remains undefeated as a pro\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/17\/15\/76445835-12639775-Usman_has_the_takedown_defence_to_make_it_a_pure_stand_up_battle-a-6_1697554505552.jpg\" height=\"427\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Usman has the takedown defence to make it a pure stand-up battle with the middleweight\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Notably, in his hardest fight so far, the 29-year-old was repeatedly bludgeoned by Burns, a man Usman dealt with handily in their title fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Usman lands an average of 4.46 significant strikes per minute at an accuracy of 52%, while Chimaev connects with an astonishing 7.30 at 69%.<\/p>\n<p>Those numbers would invariably come down over a larger sample size against better opposition, as Usman has had.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So what does Usman make of the fight ahead of his middleweight debut?<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The crazy thing is, I hate being put in this position because this was supposed to be the fight,&#8217; he told TMZ.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He&#8217;s a great, very, very good prospect, contender. He was in my weight class so that fight naturally was what was supposed to happen and I said, &#8216;Alright, let&#8217;s do it. I&#8217;ve been ready for it, let&#8217;s do it.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;But, of course, some things from his side about not being able to make the weight and also from the UFC side, they have their plans and so the fight didn&#8217;t come together.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/17\/15\/65943735-12639775-Chimaev_is_desperate_to_secure_a_title_shot-a-7_1697554505553.jpg\" height=\"462\" width=\"306\"><\/p>\n<p>Chimaev is desperate to secure a title shot<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He&#8217;s definitely very talented,&#8217; Usman said. &#8216;That&#8217;s why there&#8217;s a lot of excitement about him. We&#8217;ve seen these guys come in and a lot of different guys and you just see something special about him. We all know it. I know it, he knows it, everyone knows it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He&#8217;s very skilled. He&#8217;s strong, he&#8217;s big. He&#8217;s fast, he can wrestle, he can grapple, he can strike. He has everything but so do I. At the end of the day, we&#8217;re all human beings. Everybody feels invincible until someone comes in and pokes that balloon.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>With just over a weeks notice, Usman did not think twice about accepting the fight, likening the feeling to winning the jackpot on the lottery.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He explained: &#8216;I get the call, I just left training,&#8217; he recalled. &#8216;This is the thing with me, this is my job, this is what I do. I&#8217;m a professional, so it&#8217;s not like &#8216;Oh I don&#8217;t have a fight, I don&#8217;t do anything.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I leave training and I get the call from Ali [Abdelaziz] and I&#8217;m immediately excited. But that&#8217;s just where you are, I&#8217;m excited right now about the possibility of winning the jackpot of a billion dollars in the lottery.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;So I&#8217;m excited, and like okay, I call my coaches and throw the idea at them. And no one talked me out of it. So I&#8217;m like &#8216;Okay, let me sleep on it,&#8217; because I don&#8217;t want to be hasty and do something unintelligent. Let me sleep on it, and I woke up the next day with &#8216;Let&#8217;s get ready.&#8217; So I called Ali and said &#8216;Let&#8217;s do this.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I&#8217;m taking the fight on nine days notice so I don&#8217;t have to get off that extra 27 pounds as usually and killing myself to do that,&#8217; he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;At the end of the day he&#8217;s a big guy, big strong guy, but I&#8217;m also a big strong guy. At the end of the day it doesn&#8217;t matter. As long as we both step on that scale and weigh 185. We step into that cage. We&#8217;re gonna make it happen, we&#8217;re gonna rumble.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/17\/15\/68848123-12639775-Chimaev_missed_weight_by_a_huge_margin_back_at_UFC_279_in_Las_Ve-a-4_1697554505550.jpg\" height=\"455\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Chimaev missed weight by a huge margin back at UFC 279 in Las Vegas<\/p>\n<p>And Usman is in no doubt that a win on his debut in the division will instantly line him up for a shot at Sean Strickland for the title.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It&#8217;s a no-brainer because there&#8217;s just that element of story there, it&#8217;s built-in,&#8217; he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Sean Strickland is champion. I&#8217;ve already taken care of him [a UD win in 2017], not to say he&#8217;s not better, he is. But I&#8217;ve got a mountain in front of me that I&#8217;ve got to scale and climb, so let&#8217;s get through that first then worry about what&#8217;s next. But it&#8217;s a no-brainer.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I might just mic-drop. Grab the middleweight belt, go down, grab the welterweight belt, then mic-drop. What a way to go out, though? I want both.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I&#8217;ve always wanted champ-champ, but what a way \u2014 to go get the top one then come back down and get \u2014 no one&#8217;s ever done that! That would be crazy.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The short notice, Usman&#8217;s recent form and the fact he is stepping up in weight have combined as factors for the bookies to rate him as a 2\/1 underdog.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/17\/15\/76656013-12639775-Usman_has_superb_wrestling_and_it_will_be_tested_to_the_limit_ag-a-5_1697554505551.jpg\" height=\"436\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Usman has superb wrestling and it will be tested to the limit against Chimaev\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That appears to be solid value over the course of three rounds, especially when on paper at least, he is the highest calibre opponent Chimaev will have ever faced.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There are plenty of unknowns floating about ahead of this co-main event.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chimaev is yet to fight in 2023 and the damage to Usman&#8217;s body might be catching up with him. His knees in particular have caused issues and the younger, fresher opponent could have too much in the tank over 15 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Those unknowns make for a brilliant match-up, as does Usman&#8217;s style. On Saturday we&#8217;ll find out if it is indeed the kryptonite for Chimaev or little more than a bump in the road on his remarkable ascent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/mma\/article-12639775\/Kamaru-Usman-tools-nightmare-Khamzat-Chimaev-UFC-294-takedown-defence-97-motivation-sky-high-defeats-relish-odds-against-Abu-Dhabi.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kamaru Usman has the tools to be a nightmare for Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294&#8230; his takedown defence is 97%,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Usman has the tools to be a nightmare for Chimaev at UFC 294 - Sports Love Me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/mma\/usman-has-the-tools-to-be-a-nightmare-for-chimaev-at-ufc-294\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Usman has the tools to be a nightmare for Chimaev at UFC 294 - Sports Love Me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kamaru Usman has the tools to be a nightmare for Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294&#8230; 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