Former two-division UFC world champion Daniel Cormier shared his thoughts on the budding bromance between Khamzat Chimaev and Darren Till.
The Chechen-born Swede, Chimaev, is set for the biggest test of his career. ‘The Wolf’ is matched with UFC title challenger Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 this weekend.
Throughout his training camp leading into this fight, Chimaev has been joined by another former title challenger in Darren Till.
Till, who is looking to break his current losing streak, has reportedly gone to Sweden by himself to train with Chimaev at the Allstars Gym.
The two hit it off and seem inseparable since.
Watching the buddy-buddy interactions between the two Daniel Cormier expressed his concern for Chimaev:
“I love the whole buddy-buddy thing with Darren Till but I think it’s a mistake. I think he should continue to be a mystery to people. I think he should have as little time in front of the public and showing who he is, pulling the curtain back. I would pull the curtain back as little as I could if I’m Khamzat, just because the mystery is good for him. He’s very scary.”
Chimaev is currently on a fast track to the top of the Welterweight division.
If ‘Borz’ is able to beat Burns this weekend, the fans will be eager to see him share the cage with the reigning champion, Kamaru Usman.
Cormier also weighed in on the likelihood of Chimaev becoming the next welterweight champion:
“To say anyone will knock off Kamaru Usman is a lot, but if there’s a guy that seems to be a challenge, it seems to be this guy,” Cormier said.
And as for the betting odds:
“I think he’s the scariest contender we have seen for a while,” Cormier said of Chimaev when speaking to MMA Fighting. “Look, the odds may seem high — but when you look at these guys, you’ve got to ask yourself, ‘Do you believe [Chimaev] wins?’ Maybe he doesn’t dominate, but at the end of it, do you think he wins the fight against Gilbert Burns? When you’re asking yourself that and you say ‘I think so,’ it doesn’t matter if the odds are -100, if its even — it’s still just saying they believe he’s going to win.
“They make it so you have to risk so much in order to make anything on him. But if you think he’s going to win that fight, which a lot of people do, then the odds don’t really matter. I do believe he’s the [scariest] contender we’ve had for a while.”