On Saturday in Abu Dhabi, Khamzat Chimaev pulled off a win over the best opponent he has faced in his short UFC career. Chimaev scored a majority-decision win over former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in the co-main event of UFC 294.
Usman had taken the fight on late notice after Chimaev’s original opponent Paulo Costa was forced to back out with a shoulder injury. Despite the limited preparation, Usman did more than make a good account of himself against one of the best mixed martial artists in the world.
He nearly pulled off an improbable victory.
Judges Vito Paolillo and Derek Cleary scored the fight 29-27 for Chimaev and David Lethaby scored it even at 28-28.
Chimaev dominated the first frame. He secured an early takedown, took Usman’s back and threatened a rear-naked choke while mixing in shots to the face for most of the round.
Usman did a great job surviving the assault and limiting the amount of damage he took. The future Hall-of-Famer even unleashed a desperate attempt to drop Chimaev on his head to break the backpack hold, but it was unsuccessful.
Due to the level of control Chimaev enjoyed, he scored a 10-8 advantage in the first round on all three judges scorecards.
The second round was a different story for both fighters. Usman kept the fight standing and at a more measured pace. He did excellent work in the standup, tagging Chimaev with a few jabs and power strikes. Unfortunately for Usman, Chimaev secured a late takedown that was enough for Paolillo to score the round in the latter’s favor.
In the third, Usman did even better work, but was taken down again later in the round. He was able to get to his feet and he ended the fight in an entertaining exchange of power shots with Chimaev. However, the late takedown and subsequent control convinced Cleary to give Chimaev the final round.
MMA journalist John Morgan didn’t have an issue with the decision, but he gave Usman credit for his performance.
Sporting News’ Andreas Hale believes Usman has established himself as a middleweight, and he calls for his next fight to be against Dricus Du Plessis:
Should Chimaev get the next shot at Sean Strickland, especially with Israel Adesanya inactive?
Bookies’ Adam Martin feels that honor should belong to DDP based on his recent run through the UFC’s middleweight division.
UFC officials will likely chime in with the definitive word on that front some time in the next few weeks. In any case, 185 pounds just got a lot more interesting after this memorable fight.
Read the full article here
