Khamzat Chimaev on how he can beat Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya

Few fighters in UFC history have received a promotional and competitive push the way Khamzat Chimaev has. The rising Russian-born Swedish star has been considered the UFC's hottest prospect, and he has been dabbling between the Welterweight and Middleweight division.

This doesn't seem to be much of a problem for Khamzat Chimaev, who has now run through three UFC opponents between July and September. Despite his unranked status, he will be headlining the December 19th card against the number three ranked Welterweight Leon Edwards.

A win over Leon Edwards would be historic for Khamzat Chimaev, who would likely enter the top five without a single win against a ranked fighter. Speaking to Dan Hardy, Khamzat Chimaev talked about UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman.

While he acknowledged that Usman is a great fighter, he believes he is more skilled in the striking and wrestling department (H/T ThebodylockMMA)

“He’s a good fighter but doesn’t have that knockout punch like I have and doesn’t have wrestling like me,” Chimaev said. “What is he going to do? If I do my hard work in the gym, nobody can beat me in the fight.”

Khamzat Chimaev slammed Paulo Costa for his performance against Israel Adesanya before stating that he would wrestle The Last Stylebender:

"He’s [Adesanya] good in the standup but nobody did any wrestling with him. Yoel Romero, he only threw three or four punches in the standup. I can beat this guy. How is he going to come up from under me if I take him down? I don’t think he will. I’m going to beat his face.”

Will Khamzat Chimaev sink or swim in the UFC?

Khamzat Chimaev is getting a big promotional push, and December 19th will be the day when fans find out where he truly stands. It's an unlikely step up in competition, but the UFC wouldn't be pushing him if they didn't feel strongly about his chances.

It's a sink or swim situation for Khamzat Chimaev.