Khamzat Chimaev Next Fight: Chael Sonnen Reveals Ideal Opponent for UFC Star

Khamzat Chimaev has been itching for a real challenge for quite some time now. He even claimed that the UFC pitched him to four fighters in four different countries, but none of them agreed to the fight. And it appears that Chael Sonnen has a solution for this drawn-out, protracted episode of ‘The Borz’. The UFC veteran has introduced him to a competitor who, in his opinion, wants a true fight just as much as Chimaev does. Someone who Chael Sonnen does not want to become obsolete by merely failing to do the ‘right thing’, as many others have.

In his recent video, Sonnen talked about one common mistake that fighters tend to make before demanding higher financial incentives. Which is, not branding themselves up and not bringing enough on the table to show the promoter the basis of their demand. The 45-year-old claimed that today’s fighters adore the notion of the promotion pleading with them to compete and that they desire more convincing from them.

The ideal matchup for Khamzat Chimaev

On the subject of self-promotion, Chael Sonnen cited Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou as examples who failed to ‘build their fights’ while being away from the octagon. And he doesn’t want this to happen with Paulo Costa, who he believes is currently in his finest marketable position. Furthermore, the UFC veteran believes Costa should be pitted against Khamzat Chimaev next. According to ‘The American Gangster’, it would work the best for both of them in terms of growing their demand.

Sonnen stated, “I don’t want Paulo Costa to say, ‘I want more. I want a bigger contract.’ But all of this time, he could be building something. You know who he could be building with? (He could) be building with (Khamzat) Chimaev.”

Read more: “He’s on My List That I Want To Take Out”: Leon Edwards Issues Warning for Khamzat Chimaev

He further added, “You’ve just found a partner right there. You’ve just found a partner who’s not gonna let it slide. He’s not gonna let it ride. He’s not gonna look the other way, and he’s not gonna let it go. And when you’re doing a battle in the media for nothing more than attention, that’s the guy you need.”

Costa takes a dig at Chimaev

Interestingly enough, Chimaev happens to be Paulo Costa‘s first pick to fight, too. The Brazilian has also thrown his fair share of shade on ‘The Borz’; saying that he keeps him up at night.

During his interview with Ariel Helwani, Costa claimed, “I stole his night’s sleep, I stole his cap, I stole his main event fight, you know? I stole everything. Chimaev, you need to do something moth******er, I stole everything that you had.”

Let’s hope that Khamzat Chimaev vs. Paulo Costa is the fight that we get soon now. On paper, it seems incredibly intriguing and would make for quite a show, too.

Watch this story: End of Khabib’s Takeover In MMA