Khamzat Chimaev picks Jon Jones over Kamaru Usman as UFC's No1 pound-for-pound fighter

Khamzat Chimaev has picked Jon Jones as the UFC‘s No1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world over Kamaru Usman.

The Swedish MMA fighter sided with the American star despite being a long-time training partner of Jones’ former opponent Alexander Gustafsson.

Usman, 34, currently sits atop the pound-for-pound rankings list following his latest victory over Colby Covington.

But despite his recent success, Swedish national champ Chimaev believes that position should belong to Jones.

Appearing as a guest on ‘The Triple C & Schmo Show’ ahead of his clash with Burns, the 27-year-old said: “Nobody’s like him.

“He beat a lot of guys. He beats the monsters. I did all my training with Alex.

“I know how good he is, and if Jon Jones could stop that guy, it’s scary.

“And he beat not easy fighters. It was crazy good fighters [with] knockout power. On the ground, it was good. Everything was perfect.

“DC [Daniel Cormier] – you know how his pressure is, good wrestling, and he has good boxing, and he has mentality of just pressure the fighters and kill them, and [Jones] stopped that guy, as well.

“You can’t say Kamaru is better than him. If he stays in the game, [Jones] has to be pound-for-pound No. 1.

“Usman has only one belt, and how many times did he defend his belt? Three times? Four times?

“Jon Jones did it all his career and defended his title like 11 times. It’s different. Kamaru didn’t beat the guys that Jon Jones beat. The guys are different level.”

Chimaev, 27, also addressed his relationship with Darren Till, who is two years his senior.

The pair struck up a friendship after being introduced to each other through a mutual friend and Chimaev revealed that everyone has welcomed Till with open arms at Allstars Training Centre in