Paulo Costa isn’t convinced that Kamaru Usman and Khamzat Chimaev will actually meet in the cage, but his coach Eric Albarracin does have some thoughts on who’d have the edge in that matchup.
“The Eraser” is busy preparing for a meeting with Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291, where the Brazilian will look to win back-to-back fights for the first time since 2019. Costa’s undefeated record ended when he challenged Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title at UFC 253, and after losing his next fight to Marvin Vettori he got back into the win column with a Fight of the Night performance against Luke Rockhold.
There’s been talk that former UFC Welterweight Champion Usman might move up to middleweight to face the undefeated Chimaev, and when asked about the fight Costa deferred to Albarracin to provide a prediction.
“It’s hard to predict cause Kamaru’s one of the greatest of all time,” Albarracin said on Henry Cejudo’s YouTube channel. “He was pound for pound, and Khamzat’s still growing. So we don’t know how good Khamzat is. We know how good Kamaru is. That’s where I’m at with that.”
Eric Albarracin Cites Experience As Being Edge Between Khamzat Chimaev And Kamaru Usman
No amount of prompting from the interviewer could coax a prediction from Costa, but ultimately Albarracin said he’d have to side with Usman due to the strength of his resume.
“I lean towards Kamaru for experience. One thing you can’t substitute is experience. Experience – that’s how older people beat younger people, because they know something that the other guy doesn’t. Inside the fight, during the fight, in the right moment. They make one right decision and the other one makes the wrong decision and they win the fight. That’s what experience does.”
Chimaev is currently the UFC’s #4-ranked welterweight contender, but the undefeated fighter missed weight by a significant margin when he was booked to compete in the main event of UFC 279 against Nate Diaz. “Borz” ended up submitting Kevin Holland in co-main event catchweight bout, and it’s still unclear what weight class he plans to fight at when he returns to the Octagon.
Usman is in a difficult position after dropping back-to-back fights to Leon Edwards, which marked the first losses of his career since his second pro fight. “The Nigerian Nightmare” successfully defended the UFC’s welterweight title on five occasions before being head kicked by Edwards at UFC 278, and the 36-year-old may be hoping a win over Chimaev could get him back into title contention at either welterweight or middleweight.
Read Also: Khamzat Chimaev Expects Former Opponent To Beat ‘Sh*t’ Paulo Costa at UFC 291
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
https://www.mmanews.com/news/paulo-costa-captain-eric-albarracin-break-down-kamaru-usman-vs-khamzat-chimaev
