“I don’t know who will win, but if anyone is favored, I would give it to Hamzat Chimaev because I like new blood,” MMA Fighting quoted the Nigerian as saying. “My fight with Paulo looked easy, but trust me – he’s a difficult opponent. I just made it look easy. But in this fight, I’ll be rooting for Hamzat.”
Adesanya will make his title defense against Sean Strickland as early as this weekend, but the UFC champ isn’t ruling out another fight before the end of the year, and Chimaev could be one potential opponent if he beats Costa.
“Isn’t it funny? I’m someone who insists on organizing fights, and I’ll try to make another one before the end of the year. We’ll see how things work out, but I can definitely do another one this year.”
The middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland will be the main event of UFC 293, which takes place on September 9 in Sydney.