Khamzat Chimaev is happy to step in if rivals Arman Tsarukyan and Ilia Topuria cross paths at UFC Qatar – but it won’t be to play peacemaker.
Tsarukyan and Topuria are both in Doha for this UFC fight week,
with Tsarukyan fighting Dan Hooker in Saturday’s main event and Topuria cornering his brother Aleksandre, who competes on the preliminary portion of the card. The winner of Saturday’s main event puts themselves in a lead position to challenge Topuria for the UFC lightweight title, and Tsaryukan and Topuria have previously taken shots at each other in interviews to add fuel to their feud.
Chimaev will corner Tsarukyan against Hooker and he’ll also have his back should Tsarukyan run into Topuria backstage, but only to make sure it’s a fair fight.
“If something happens, let them go one on one,” Chimaev told Hustle Vlog (Russian translation via Adam Zubayraev). “We’ll beat all the extra people and they’ll go one on one. I don’t think—I hope nothing like that will happen. But this is sport and we need this kind of hype, we need big loud fights. So they’re doing the right thing. Both are promoting their fight. Someday it will happen.”
Topuria has already had one Qatar run-in, exchanging words with another potential lightweight title challenger, Paddy Pimblett. That encounter ended with few fireworks, though one has to imagine UFC security is on high alert with so many explosive personalities on the prowl.
Assuming Tsarukyan and Topuria manage to avoid one another, Chimaev is solely focused on preparing Tsarukyan for Saturday’s main event. He credits Tsarukyan with helping him to focus, especially in his five-round fight with Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319, where Chimaev put on a dominant performance to win the middleweight title.
“It was the same scenario with me before my fight,” Chimaev said. “During the fight he stopped me where needed, boosted me and so on. He supported me with words. Those who also work like this will understand us.”
Asked for his thoughts on Hooker, Chimaev was brief.
“Every top fighter is dangerous, but he’s not on our level,” Chimaev said.
Watch the full Hustle Vlog below.
