“I think I broke my hand man!” Moments after getting bashed for underwhelming performance, Khamzat Chimaev reveals CR*ZY injury from first round against Kamaru Usman

Khamzat Chimaev revealed a potential broken hand that he sustained against Kamaru Usman. This may have been the cause for his less dominant performance. He will face Sean Strickland for the middleweight championship.

“I think I broke my hand man!” Moments after getting bashed for underwhelming performance, Khamzat Chimaev reveals CR*ZY injury from first round against Kamaru Usman

Kamaru Usman discusses Khamzat Chimaev (via: twitter/firstsportz.com)

Khamzat Chimaev, in the aftermath of his victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, revealed an injury. Chimaev defeated the short-notice replacement, Kamaru Usman, by majority decision which has now made him the number one contender at middleweight.

Chimaev was expected to run through Usman. However, Usman proved too good for Chimaev to ragdoll. Nevertheless, the injury he suffered in round 1 might have something to do about it. Borz said about his injury whilst walking backstage after his victory over Kamaru Usman. This is what he had to say:

I think I broke my hand man.
Khamzat Chimaev said after defeating Kamaru Usman at UFC 294.
YouTube video

Paulo Costa was the original opponent for Khamzat Chimaev in the co-main event of UFC 294. However, Costa got a staph infection and was replaced by Usman on ten days’ notice. Chimaev took down Usman in round one and spent the majority of the round on Usman’s back, trying to choke him out. However, Usman used impressive striking to make the fight more competitive in rounds 2 and 3. With the revelation of the injury, it made sense of Chimaev’s underwhelming performance.

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Sean Strickland had earlier said that Chimaev was expected to demolish Usman. He further stressed that anything less than that would be considered a disappointment. With the victory, Chimaev would be facing Strickland for the middleweight championship of the UFC. Strickland is the latest champion of the UFC, as he dethroned Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

Khamzat Chimaev says that Kamaru Usman made him a better fighter

Even though Chimaev did not respect Kamaru Usman as a strong opponent before the fight, he was full of praise for the “Nigerian Nightmare.” Chimaev, in the pre-fight presser, had labeled Usman as an inferior version of Chimaev. Nevertheless, the sentiment has changed after the fight. The betting odds were stacked against Usman. It was only the second time that Usman was an underdog in a UFC fight.

Khamzat Chimaev
Khamzat Chimaev (Source: IMAGO)

Chimaev spoke highly of Usman in the post-fight interview. Moreover, he also did the same in the backstage interview. This is what he said about Usman in the backstage interview:

He made me a better fighter today.
Khamzat Chimaev during the post-fight interview at UFC 294.

Usman was not the original opponent of Chimaev. It was the number 6 ranked Paulo Costa. After the underwhelming performance against Usman, many urged the UFC to book the Costa vs. Chimeave matchup again. Conor McGregor notably tweeted about it. Chimaev, on the other hand, did not speak about his title aspirations. He talked about his willingness to fight anybody, and making money is his ultimate goal.

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