Daniel Cormier brands Khamzat Chimaev the ‘biggest LOSER’ from UFC 278 fallout

Leon Edwards’ shock UFC welterweight championship win over Kamaru Usman is the highlight of the Englishman’s career with Edwards becoming the division’s undisputed champion.

But not everyone is cheering as Khamzat Chimaev now has to press pause on his title hopes as an eagerly-anticipated trilogy fight against Usman looms.

UFC hall of fame inductee Daniel Cormier labelled Chimaev as the ‘biggest loser’ in the fallout of Edwards’ latest success when speakjng on his YouTube channel, insisting that the Swedish fighter’s future is up in the air.

Leon Edwards (left) will now rematch Kamaru Usman after his shock championship win

Russian-born Chimaev is currently in training for a main event fight with veteran Nate Diaz at UFC 279 next month, a fight that should he win would have put him next in line for a divisional title shot. 

But fight commentator Cormier is unsure what the next step is for Chimaev, with the Usman-Edwards rematch expected to take place later this year meaning a championship shot is further away than ever before.

‘I think last weekend he did not understand that he was the biggest loser in the Usman vs. Leon situation, because he was in line,’ Cormier said on his YouTube channel. 

Russian-born Chimaev (right) may now have to face fellow title-hopeful Colby Covington (left)

‘All he had to do was get past Diaz. All he had to do, get past Diaz, you fight for the championship, but with Leon Edwards winning now, now we got a trilogy and rightfully so.

‘That leads to the question: What is this fight for? I feel like for Diaz, this fight’s for legacy. 

‘I feel like for Chimaev, this is just another scalp on his resume, because I don’t know if this win necessarily puts him closer than he already is to a championship fight.

‘And, because of the result last weekend, he’ll need one more. I just wonder who that one more is going to come against. If he beats Diaz, does he get Covington next?’

Cormier questioned who Chimaev fights next if he beats Nate Diaz at UFC 279 in September

34-year-old Colby Covington may represent an intermediary stepping stone that would make Chimaev the undoubted challenger for a shot at the Welterweight title.

Covington however will have his own hopes of securing a third title opportunity after losing twice already to former champion Usman and would provide Chimaev with his hardest test inside the Octagon yet.