Kamaru Usman has the tools to be a nightmare for Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294… 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

• Khamzat Chimaev was due to fight Paulo Costa but Brazilian pulled out injured
• Kamaru Usman has stepped in on late notice and match-up is even better
• Stats show how ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ could match up well with unbeaten star 

It wasn’t so long ago that Kamaru Usman walked the UFC world like a God and at times seemed almost untouchable. 

The former welterweight champion reigned supreme, adding deadly striking to his ridiculous engine and grappling ability. 

He saw off Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns but was unceremoniously dethroned by Leon Edwards’ instantly iconic head kick and then lost the trilogy in London by decision. 

These were hefty setbacks, no doubt, but ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ 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. 

Chimaev is the coming force in the UFC. He remains undefeated and has looked frankly ridiculous in much of his octagon time so far. 

Kamaru Usman (right) is looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats by Leon Edwards 

Khamzat Chimaev (back) remains undefeated and faces Usman at UFC 294 on Saturday 

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.

It is a truly compelling match-up and a far more exciting one than the initial bout with Paulo Costa. 

Chimaev isn’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. 

The foundation of Chimaev’s game is his freakish wrestling ability that sees him throw around opponents at will. 

Nobody does this to Usman. The 36-year-old boasts a takedown percentage of 97 across his career – with Edwards being the first man to secure one. 

Chimaev on the other hand, is successful with almost 60% of the takedowns he attempts. 

Something has to give. It was evident from Usman’s fights against fellow decorated wrestler Covington that their respective grappling abilities cancelled out, making it a fist fight. 

If the same happens here, Usman will believe he has the edge on the feet.

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. 

Usman (left) has great takedown defence, as does Chimaev, meaning it could be a stand-up battle

Chimaev (left) has looked sensational so far and remains undefeated as a pro 

Usman has the takedown defence to make it a pure stand-up battle with the middleweight 

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. 

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%.

Those numbers would invariably come down over a larger sample size against better opposition, as Usman has had. 

So what does Usman make of the fight ahead of his middleweight debut?

‘The crazy thing is, I hate being put in this position because this was supposed to be the fight,’ he told TMZ. 

‘He’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, ‘Alright, let’s do it. I’ve been ready for it, let’s do it.’

‘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’t come together.

Chimaev is desperate to secure a title shot

‘He’s definitely very talented,’ Usman said. ‘That’s why there’s a lot of excitement about him. We’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.

‘He’s very skilled. He’s strong, he’s big. He’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’re all human beings. Everybody feels invincible until someone comes in and pokes that balloon.’

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. 

He explained: ‘I get the call, I just left training,’ he recalled. ‘This is the thing with me, this is my job, this is what I do. I’m a professional, so it’s not like ‘Oh I don’t have a fight, I don’t do anything.’ 

‘I leave training and I get the call from Ali [Abdelaziz] and I’m immediately excited. But that’s just where you are, I’m excited right now about the possibility of winning the jackpot of a billion dollars in the lottery.

‘So I’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’m like ‘Okay, let me sleep on it,’ because I don’t want to be hasty and do something unintelligent. Let me sleep on it, and I woke up the next day with ‘Let’s get ready.’ So I called Ali and said ‘Let’s do this.’

‘I’m taking the fight on nine days notice so I don’t have to get off that extra 27 pounds as usually and killing myself to do that,’ he said. 

‘At the end of the day he’s a big guy, big strong guy, but I’m also a big strong guy. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter. As long as we both step on that scale and weigh 185. We step into that cage. We’re gonna make it happen, we’re gonna rumble.’

Chimaev missed weight by a huge margin back at UFC 279 in Las Vegas

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. 

‘It’s a no-brainer because there’s just that element of story there, it’s built-in,’ he added. 

‘Sean Strickland is champion. I’ve already taken care of him [a UD win in 2017], not to say he’s not better, he is. But I’ve got a mountain in front of me that I’ve got to scale and climb, so let’s get through that first then worry about what’s next. But it’s a no-brainer.

‘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. 

‘I’ve always wanted champ-champ, but what a way — to go get the top one then come back down and get — no one’s ever done that! That would be crazy.’

The short notice, Usman’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. 

Usman has superb wrestling and it will be tested to the limit against Chimaev 

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. 

There are plenty of unknowns floating about ahead of this co-main event. 

Chimaev is yet to fight in 2023 and the damage to Usman’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. 

Those unknowns make for a brilliant match-up, as does Usman’s style. On Saturday we’ll find out if it is indeed the kryptonite for Chimaev or little more than a bump in the road on his remarkable ascent. 

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