Khamzat Chimaev suffered a torn hand ligament during the first round of his majority decision victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294

• Khamzat Chimaev picked up a huge majority decision win over Kamaru Usman
• He suffered a torn ligament in his right hand during the bout at UFC 294
• The 29-year-old Russian will wear a brace but doesn’t require surgery

Khamzat Chimaev’s manager has revealed that the Russian suffered a torn hand ligament during his majority decision victory over Kamaru Usman.

The undefeated 29-year-old secured the massive victory over Usman at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on October 21.

He had originally been due to fight Paulo Costa, only for Usman to step into the fold -moving up a division from welterweight to middleweight in the process – after the Brazilian underwent surgery on his elbow. 

Chimaev hurt his right hand in the first round of the contest, but went on to take an impressive victory, with two judges scoring the fight 29-27 and the third scoring it a 28-28 draw. 

The Russian’s manager, Majdi Shammas, has told ESPN that Chimaev suffered a torn ligament in his hand.  

Khamzat Chimaev suffered a torn ligament in his right hand in bout against Kamaru Usman

Chimaev had previously told ESPN that he broke his hand during the first round of the contest

It’s said that Chimaev will wear a brace for the next four weeks before reassessing the injury – though it’s not expected that he will require surgery. 

Chimaev had initially feared that he may have broken his hand during the aftermath of the fight. 

By defeating Usman, Chimaev appeared to put himself in pole position for the next shot at UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.

Strickland picked up the title in an upset decision victory over Israel Adesanya last month.  

Dana White said the winner of Chimaev and Usman would be next in line, though the Russian will be hoping his injury heals up quickly so the title opportunity doesn’t fall in another fighter’s hands. 

Strickland in an expletive rant said that Chimaev didn’t deserve a fight for the middleweight championship.

‘The only thing I like about Chimaev is that he sells fights,’ Strickland said on UFC Fight Pass. 

‘For some reason, people f***ing like him or don’t like him. I don’t know. To me, he’s a f***ing paycheck. He sells a lot of fights. People pay to watch, but he f***ing hasn’t earned it.

‘He hasn’t f***ing deserved it, but here we are. Give it to him. He sells a lot of fights. I’ll go fight the f***ing man for five rounds. But no, he’s not earned it. 

‘He doesn’t f***ing deserve it. Getting a decision with a welterweight off the couch is not f***ing earning it.’

Chimaev picked up a massive unanimous decision over Usman at UFC 294 earlier this month

Source: Read Full Article