Daniel Cormier fears Khamzat Chimaev won’t live up to UFC star potential: ‘It will be very difficult’

Daniel Cormier thinks Khamzat Chimaev’s stellar start to his UFC career has set the bar too high.

Chimaev burst onto the UFC scene by winning two fights in the span of 10 days on “Fight Island” in 2020. However, while “Borz” lived up to the hype by remaining undefeated over the course of of seven octagonal fights, its activity has considerably decreased. during the last years.

Chimaev hasn’t competed since a majority decision win over Kamaru Usman last October at UFC 294 – his only fight in nearly two years. He was scheduled to headline Saturday’s UFC on ABC 6 event against Robert Whittaker, but illness forced him to withdraw.

Cormier wonders if Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) lost momentum after beating former UFC champion Usman.

“I always wonder if a guy can ride too hot on the first start,” Cormier said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “Can you fly too close to the sun?” Because when Khamzat Chimaev started well, he was on Fight Island, he fought twice in a week, looked amazing, went to the Apex, knocked out Gerald Meerschaert. He was so hot that everyone thought he was going to be the greatest fighter, that he could beat anyone, he was doing his thing at a level that I don’t even know was sustainable. And then he goes with Kamaru Usman, who is a former champion.

“And for him to win at this stage of his career is a huge accomplishment, even though Usman took the fight on short notice. But it was like because of the decision, after what he did to Li Jingliang, how he hugged him and hit him and talked to Dana all the time, it seemed like in this victory, he had lost a little of the tradition. that he had built around himself. So that brings me to this: did he fly too hot, was he too close to the sun, and now it will be very difficult for him to reach the level of stardom we all expected from Khamzat Chimaev.

Despite rumors that Chimaev is considering retirement, his manager confirmed to MMA Junkie that he has every intention of continuing to fight. However, UFC CEO Dana White could not offer a timetable for Chimaev’s next fight and admitted that the constant setbacks are “difficult to deal with.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 6.

Story originally published on MMA Junkie