Mon Sep 23 21:01:00 UTC 2024: ## Khamzat Chimaev Apologizes for Past Comments, Ready to Focus on Robert Whittaker Fight

Khamzat Chimaev, the undefeated UFC fighter, has apologized for past inflammatory comments he made about Khabib Nurmagomedov. In 2021, Chimaev, then a rising star, responded to a fan on Instagram Live by saying he would “smash” Nurmagomedov.

Chimaev, now 30, attributes those comments to his youth and inexperience. “I was young, I lacked experience,” he admitted in a recent interview. “I just broke into the UFC, they started comparing me with Khabib and other fighters. With Adlan Amagov, in particular. But everyone has their own achievement. I’ve got mine, Khabib and Adlan has got theirs. Every fighter wants to create his own legacy.”

He further clarified, “It doesn’t feel good to be compared to anybody else. I just got triggered as someone said that Khabib would smash me, so I responded to that dude. Although I should have not done it. I said, ‘Okay, if Khabib wants to smash me, I am ready to smash him,’ and they just hyped that up as if I challenged him. All the media outlets made it viral, ‘Khamzat wants to smash Khabib.’ I would never fight Khabib. I would not fight my countrymen.”

Moving forward, Chimaev is focused on his upcoming fight against former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 on October 26th in Abu Dhabi. This fight marks a crucial step in Chimaev’s journey to establish his own legacy in the UFC.

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