Leon Edwards sizes up Khamzat Chimaev: “I believe he’s overhyped”

UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards sized up his upcoming opponent Khamzat Chimaev, saying that the Swedish prospect is “overhyped.”

After temporarily being removed from the UFC rankings due to inactivity, Edwards finally signed on the dotted line to fight Chimaev. The two will square off on December 19 in a five-round welterweight main event, and the winner of the fight will be in a prime position to challenge for the belt in 2021. It is a massive fight at 170lbs between two of the best fighters in this division. However, Edwards isn’t buying all of the hype on his opponent.

Although Edwards opened up as a betting favorite at the sportsbooks, the line quickly flipped and now Chimaev is the betting favorite. Considering Chimaev has only been in the UFC for four months, the fact he’s favored to defeat a top-five opponent in Edwards shows how much hype there is for him. However, if you ask Edwards, it’s too much hype.

Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Edwards sized up his upcoming opponent.

Rocky isn't buying the hype because he's been there before.

(via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/3oryTmtlvW

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 11, 2020

“I believe he’s overhyped. I was once 9-0 in my career, I once had an eight-second knockout in the UFC. I’ve done everything he’s done,” Edwards said.

Edwards is pointing to his quick KO over Seth Baczynski back in his second UFC fight back in 2015, which to this day is still his lone “Performance of the Night” bonus in the Octagon. Overall, Edwards has a terrific UFC record of 10-2 and he is currently riding an eight-fight win streak. Although he is clearly one of the top welterweights in the sport right now, he hasn’t caught on as much with fans as he would hope to. However, if Edwards can go out there and defeat Chimaev, he can steal his hype and ride it all the way to a title shot.

Do you agree with Leon Edwards that Khamzat Chimaev is overhyped?