Daniel Cormier questions if Khamzat Chimaev flew “too close to the sun” in early UFC days

Daniel Cormier is questioning if Khamzat Chimaev flew ‘too close to the sun’ in his early UFC days.

The undefeated Chimaev (13-0 MMA) hasn’t competed since his majority decision victory over Kamaru Usman (20-4 MMA) last October at UFC 294.

‘Borz’ was scheduled to fight Robert Whittaker (26-7 MMA) in the main event this coming Saturday, June 22nd, but had to withdraw due to illness.

At present there is no timeline as to when Khamzat Chimaev will return to action in the UFC.

UFC commentator Daniel Cormier is questioning if Chimaev has lost momentum since the early days of his Ultimate Fighting Championship career.

Cormier, speaking on the ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ podcast with Chael Sonnen shared his concerns about Chimaev:

“I always wonder if a guy can ride too hot when they first start. Can you fly too close to the sun? Because when Khamzat Chimaev started right, he was on Fight Island, he fought twice in one week, looked amazing, went to the Apex, knocked out Gerald Meerschaert. He was so hot that everybody just thought he was going to be the greatest fighter, he can finish anyone, he was doing his thing at a level that I don’t know is even sustainable. And then he goes in there with Kamaru Usman, who is a former champion.”

Continuing Daniel Cormier said (h/t MMAJunkie):

“And for him to win at this stage in his career is a massive accomplishment, even though Usman took the fight on short notice. But, it felt like because of the decision, after what he did to Li Jingliang, how he picked him up and slammed him and was talking to Dana the whole time, it seemed like in that victory, he lost a little bit of the lore that he had built around himself. So then it leads me to this, did he fly too hot, was he too close to the sun, and now, it’ll be very difficult for him to reach the level of superstardom that we all expected from Khamzat Chimaev.”

Do you believe Cormier has a point? Did Khamzat Chimaev ‘fly too close to the sun’?

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