Israel Adesanya is intrigued by a potential matchup against UFC contender Khamzat Chimaev.
Chimaev ran through former champion Robert Whittaker for a first-round submission this past October at UFC 308. His performance may have earned him a title shot, but not before middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis runs things back with Sean Strickland in the UFC 312 headliner on Feb. 8.
Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) wasn’t surprised with the title-fight rematch being booked, but admits Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is definitely on his radar now.
“Khamzat? Nah, I knew they were going to go with this (Du Plessis vs. Strickland) fight because I knew it was coming, they’ve already organized it,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “So, I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, what?’ But, I was surprised the way Khamzat ran through Rob. That was crazy, that was like, ‘Wow.’ That made me want to fight him. I was like, ‘OK, sh*t. This guy’s actually really, really good.'”
Former UFC middleweight champion Adesanya will look to snap a two-fight losing skid when he meets Nassourdine Imavov (15-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) Feb. 1 in the UFC Fight Night 250 headliner at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Adesanya is coming off back-to-back title losses to Sean Strickland and Du Plessis.
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Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov: Odds and what to know ahead of UFC Saudi Arabia main event
Dricus Du Plessis reveals how close Khamzat Chimaev came to getting UFC 312 title shot
Robert Whittaker: Khamzat Chimaev beats UFC 312 headliners Dricus Du Plessis, Sean Strickland
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Saudi Arabia.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Israel Adesanya reveals what really made him want to fight Khamzat Chimaev
