Israel Adesanya says he’s serious about fighting Khamzat Chimaev in 2025.
The previous two-time UFC middleweight recently fell short in his bid to win back his belt when he suffered a fourth-round submission defeat against Dricus du Plessis.
‘Stylebender’ is on a two-fight skid after also being outpointed by Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in September 2023.
Now he’s been booked to face rising star Nassourdine Imavov in Saudi Arabia on February 1.
Israel Adesanya eyes future fight with Khamzat Chimaev
Israel Adesanya understands that earning one other title shot may take greater than a win over Imavov.
Khamzat Chimaev waits within the wings after breezing through his fight with Robert Whittaker in October.
The 14-0 contender made it look easy as he crushed Whittaker’s jaw to win by first-round submission.
Chimaev’s performance was so impressive that many fans called for him to get an instantaneous title shot.
Nonetheless, the powers that be ultimately decided to book Du Plessis vs Strickland II. The middleweight championship will probably be on the road after they rematch at UFC 312 Sydney, Australia on February 9
Adesanya wasn’t surprised to see Chimaev get ignored by the UFC. Still, he was extremely impressed with the Russian’s win over Whittaker. A lot in order that he’s now looking forward to throwing down with him in the long run.
“I used to be surprised the way in which Khamzat ran through Rob, that was crazy,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“That made me wish to fight him. I used to be like, ‘Okay, s***! This guy is admittedly good’.”
Khamzat Chimaev to face Alex Pereira next?
Earlier this week, UFC fans woke as much as a surprising rumor circulating about Alex Pereira’s next title fight.
The sunshine heavyweight king was expected to face Magomed Ankalaev in the brand new 12 months, but he took to social media to suggest he’s rejecting Magomed Ankalaev as his next opponent, which breathed life into speculation about him fighting Chimaev as a substitute.
Reacting to the story on Instagram, former heavyweight contender Brendan Shaub reshared an Instagram post, with the caption: “No F***** way, anyone know if that is for real? Take. My. Money.”
The rumor even reached the ears of Whittaker, who claimed that his last opponent would beat Pereira if that fight actually got here to fruition.
“I saw a rumor that Chimaev might go up and fight Pereira – imagine that… Chimaev [wins] easily – possibly not easily – but Chimaev [wins] though… Unless the heavyweight strength changes his dynamic, Chimaev would get the takedown. He’s good at what he does and that plays into his strengths.
“But let’s say hypothetically, Chimaev slows down and gasses a little bit bit, Pereira won’t, and he can strike in his sleep… He’ll kill Chimaev within the standup, it won’t be like that Usman-Chimaev fight where Usman was out-boxing him, it’d be a slaughter.”
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