No. 15 ranked middleweight contender Ian Heinisch has stated that he is ready to take on surging UFC fighter Khamzat Chimaev.
Khamzat Chimaev has taken the MMA world by storm by competing thrice inside the world’s biggest MMA promotion in just 63 days. He made his UFC debut on UFC on ESPN 13 in July earlier this year against John Phillips and won via submission in the second round.
He then took on Rhys McKee at UFC on ESPN 14 and knocked him out in the first round. In his third fight, he stepped up in competition to fight Gerald Meerschaert at UFC Fight Night 178 in September. It was by far the biggest fight of his career and against his toughest opponent till date.
Chimaev knocked him out in just 17-seconds. Meanwhile, Chimaev is scheduled to fight Leon Edwards on December 19 at the Apex facility in Las Vegas. For his upcoming fight, he is fighting at welterweight and this proves that the Swede is quite comfortable jumping weight classes between 170lbs and 185lbs.
Khamzat Chimaev has been so dominant inside the Octagon that he has had a hard time getting fights. This led to Ian Heinisch telling in an interview that he was game to test Chimaev at middleweight.
“What has been upsetting is Khamzat is saying no one wants to fight him. I know I have a fight on the books but double-book me,” Heinisch said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “All these rules are being bent with COVID, and Neil Magny and I were calling him out. If he wants it at 185, I’m right here. I’m a ranked opponent and I’m ready to fight whenever.”
Ian Heinisch and Khamzat Chimaev share a common opponent
Ian Heinisch is fighting Brendan Allen tomorrow in the main card of UFC on Vegas 13. Both Ian Heinisch and Khamzat Chimaev share a common opponent in Gerald Meerschaert.
Heinisch knocked out Meerchaert a minute after Khamzat did when they fought at UFC 250 in June earlier this year.
“He knocked out Meerschaert like a minute faster than me. Khamzat is good man, he is tough and has the right mentality, and is a game opponent. I think it would be a fun matchup,” Heinisch said. “I will meet in the middle and we are going to fight for real. If he wants to test himself against a middleweight, I’m a top-15 guy and I’ll make myself available. I’ll be ready if they call me and say I will fight him tomorrow. I just want people to know, if Khamzat wants to fight, I would love to accept the challenge.”
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