After announcing earlier this week that he would be returning to the Octagon this summer, Khamzat Chimaev has now revealed that he thinks he would beat Jan Blachowicz — Ffightful has you covered on this story and all of the other news in the world of combat sports.
Khamzat Chimaev confident that he would beat Jan Blachowicz
Earlier this week, fast-rising UFC welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev announced that he would be returning to the Octagon this summer.
A few months ago, Chimaev seemingly announced his retirement from MMA after months of battling severe COVID-19 symptoms which really badly affected his lungs which left him regularly coughing up blood,
Since then, Chimaev has gone out to Las Vegas to receive specialist treatment and that treatment has seemingly paid off as now Chimaev is finally ready to return to the Octagon.
For when he returns, the plan seems to be that Chimaev will compete at welterweight, however, in an interview with ESPN, Chimaev revealed that he could also fight at middleweight which he has done already in the UFC as well as light heavyweight. Chimaev also revealed that he fancies his chances against the current light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz,
In his interview with ESPN, Chimaev said " To me, it doesn’t matter, two weight classes waiting for me, (185) or (170), I can go fight (205 pounds). I did sparring with the guys who are, like top-10 at (205 pounds). I don’t want to say the names for these guys, but the guys know when they did spar with me what’s happening there."
Chimaev also revealed that he thinks that he could beat the current light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.
Chimaev said "I can beat Blachowicz too. Israel (Adesanya) too, he lose with, like, wrestling against Blachowicz, Blachowicz is not a wrestler. I don’t know people, how they think about it. Of course, I didn’t fight for a long time, I don’t have so many fights, but I know who I am."
It is clear that Chimaev is beaming with confidence ahead of his return.
Vicente Luque to stay ready in case Nate Diaz vs Leon Edwards falls apart
Vicente Luque has been one of the biggest dark horses in the welterweight division for the last few years.
Coming off an impressive win over the division's former champion Tyron Woodley, Luque believes that he is on the right track in his career.
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Luque said that now more than ever his the perfect time for him to stay ready as there are so many fights in the welterweight division happening, specifically Nate Diaz vs Leon Edwards.
In the interview, Luque said that he is going to be staying ready just in case the fight between Nate Diaz and Leon Edwards falls apart.
He said "I’m a guy that is always ready, I’m always active, I’m always keeping myself trained and healthy,” Luque said. “That’s something that I like to make sure I don’t have any injuries and that I stay not too far from the weight so that in two weeks, I know that two weeks is time enough for me to make 170."
Luque concluded "So yeah, I’m going to keep myself ready as I always do, and maybe a big opportunity shows up. Maybe Nate Diaz or Leon Edwards, one of the two can fight me in May and I’ll try to be ready for that for sure.”
Lance Palmer plays down supposed rivalry between himself and Bubba Jenkins
Lance Palmer and Bubba Jenkins will meet tonight at PFL 1: Pettis vs Collard and in the lead up to the fight, many sources have said that there is a rivalry between Palmer and Jenkins which links back to their days wrestling against each other over 10 years ago.
However, Palmer has insisted that there is no rivalry between the two.
In an interview with MMA Fighting Palmer said "Honestly for me, I’ve known Bubba since 2005 – I don’t consider this a rivalry at all, I just think of it as a person that I know outside of fighting that I’m fighting now. As far as there being a rivalry, I think he’s the one that’s tried to create a rivalry in his own head. I don’t see the rivalry there. I just see a good competitor. Somebody I know who did really well in wrestling, 12, 13 years ago."
How do you see the fight between Palmer and Jenkins playing out tonight?
Tristan Connelly excited to return to the Octagon at UFC 261
Tristan Connelly has not fought since 2019 where he shockingly defeated the highly rated Michel Pereira at a UFC event in Vancouver.
Connelly was a huge underdog against Pereira but he managed to weather the storm of Pereira early on, got him to gas out, and won via unanimous decision.
Ahead of his return to the Octagon two years later, Connelly will compete at featherweight which is two weight classes lower than where he fought Michel Pereira.
When speaking to BjPenn.com, Connelly expressed his excitement about finally returning to the Octagon this weekend at UFC 261.
Connelly said "I’ve been pushing to fight. I have to go back to Canada in May because my wife and I bought a new townhouse, and we need to move everything into a storage unit. Then, I have to do a two-week quarantine when I get back to Canada, so I can’t have that in a middle of a fight camp. There were talks of fighting Darren Elkins, which I super excited about. I don’t want to speculate, but the date didn’t work for him. The UFC told me they still wanted me on the same date and maybe a week before it was announced I got the contract offer to fight Pat Sabatini.”
Although Connelly is not planning to stick around at featherweight, he is using this fight as a test to see how he feels at the weight.
He said "I have been watching my diet hard and eating super clean and no cheat days. I’m leaner than I’ve ever been and I want to make a run at featherweight. Most of my training partners are featherweight and I did everything right. I’m not sure if this will be a long-term move, this is more of a test, I’m fine to make the weight. But, it’s more to see how I feel and what happens after the fight. I’m 15lbs lighter than I normally am when I’m fighting at 155, so I know I’ll make it.”
Ben Askren receives an apology from Michael Buffer
One of the biggest talking points from last Saturday's Triller event was when Michael Buffer pronounced Ben Askren's name wrong and instead, referred to him as Ben Askew.
Askren has now received an apology from Buffer.
When speaking to TooFab, Buffer was asked about the mistake.
Buffer said "Oh thanks for bringing that up. I did, I really feel bad. Yeah, it happens, I’m hard on myself, believe me."
Buffer also revealed that he will try and reach out to Askren privately to apologize for the mistake.
He said "He’s a professional. That’s not gonna throw him off. But yeah — I’m gonna try to find a way to reach out to him personally and let him know I feel just as bad as he did, sure,”
Did you notice Buffer's mispronunciation?
Dana White calls Kamaru Usman the welterweight GOAT
For a long time now, there has only really been one name in the conversation for the welterweight GOAT status and that is the division's long-time champion Georges St-Pierre.
However, in Kamaru Usman's run as the welterweight champion so far, he has done enough and impressed enough to be in the conversation for that status, and the UFC president Dana White has officially hailed Usman as the greatest welterweight of all time.
In an interview with TSN's Aaron Bronsteter, White said "Yeah, I just think if you look at what this guy has done. Every time he fights he looks better and better. He’s literally fought everybody out there, and now he’s going for a second run on these guys. And the fight with him and Colby Covington is one of the best fights I’ve ever seen."
White also said "This division is stacked with killers right now. And like I said, the fight with him and Colby Covington. Love him or hate him, he’s one of the best fighters in the world. He’s a very, very good fighter and that fight was incredible. Both guys had to dig deep in that fight. It was one of the best fights I’ve ever seen, ever.”
Do you agree with White that Usman is the welterweight GOAT?
Video: Rafael Fiziev hilariously calls out Kevin Lee
One of the most exciting fighters in the UFC lightweight division right now is Rafael Fiziev.
For a while now Fiziev has been calling out fellow lightweight Kevin Lee.
Take a look at the callout below.
Please help me find @MoTownPhenom -- pic.twitter.com/kBUKVyHb7r
— Rafael “Ataman” Fiziev (@RafaelFiziev) April 22, 2021
How do you think a fight between Lee and Fiziev would go?
Jorge Masvidal reacts to Jake Paul knocking out Ben Askren
In the lead-up to Jake Paul's fight against Ben Askren, videos were released of Paul and MMA star Jorge Masvidal training together.
In the videos which were released, Masvidal was teaching Paul methods that could potentially make him knock out Askren quicker than Masvidal did which was just in five seconds.
When speaking to ESPN, Masvidal reacted to Paul's win over Askren.
Masvidal said "All I gotta say is, I told you so, I told everybody. The MMA world was mad at me that, you know, he was representing MMA. Never. Never not once ever was he representing MMA. How dare anybody say that guy is representing MMA, when every interview he’s ever done about strikers is, ‘I don’t need to strike, I can just wrestle these guys to the ground."
Masvidal also went on to say "And he’s been saying that in interviews for ten years plus, and now we’re supposed to get behind this guy who doesn’t respect mixed martial arts. Because it is mixed martial arts, it’s not just wrestling, or just boxing, you know. So obviously, when he went in there, I mean called it. I was the first guy to call it.”
Did you expect Paul to beat Askren as easily as he did?
Oscar De La Hoya apologizes for his Triller commentary
On the broadcast of Jake Paul vs Ben Askren, Oscar De La Hoya was seemingly on edge and his commentary was so strange that people were taking more note of the commentary than the actual boxing itself.
De La Hoya, who will be returning to the ring later this year has apologized for the commentary.
When speaking on the DAZN Boxing Show, De La Hoya admitted he got a bit carried away on commentary.
De La Hoya said "I’ve been in beast mode for about six weeks, right? And I got a little into it. You know, I started having a couple of drinks. And then they told me, ‘Why don’t you go and commentate?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, man! Okay, okay.’ I got a little over-carried away. And I apologize. But it’s all good. It’s all good. I’m back in beast mode. I’m ready to go and I mean, as you know, I’ve been posting pictures and videos of me training. So, I’m gonna continue that. So, it’s on, baby.”
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