Khamzat Chimaev defeated Kamaru Usman at UFC 294. Photo: Johnathon Michael / Frontkick.online
Undefeated Khamzat Chimaev’s win over former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman came with a price. During the first round, where Chimaev controlled his opponent on the ground, he might have broken his hand.
“I dominated the guy first round,” Chimaev said in a media scrum after the win. “In the first round, last minute, I think I broke my hand. It was hard to wrestle and keep him down, but I couldn’t use my right hand, so we’ll see what’s happening. Maybe it’s broken, maybe not, but you feel fucking pain. I don’t know. I don’t care. I won. My hand was up.”
Khamzat praised his opponent both in the cage and in the post-fight media scrum.
UFC president Dana White hope that Chimaev is still fit to fight for the title next.
“Yeah, he said he broke his hand but that’s not confirmed yet. Obviously he’s going to get x-rays and MRI’s and whatever he needs, so we’ll figure it out. Khamzat goes in there and he’s fighting the greatest welterweight of all time. A very tough, crafty veteran.”
“Khamzat was built here during covid, the kid is unbelievably talented, we need to keep him more active, that’s what we need to do,” White said. “Hopefully he’s hand is not broken and hopefully we can do the title fight.”