The Chechnya-born Swedish prodigy Khamzat Chimaev hasn’t entered the octagon in the last seven months. His sudden absence from the fight game is both surprising and frustrating for the fans as he was once one of the most active fighters in the entire UFC roaster. Although Chimaev has been fairly active on social media, getting involved in various Twitter battles and callouts.
In one such recent incident, Chimaev called out the current UFC middleweight champion Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira. The Brazilian who is scheduled to fight former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in a rematch this Saturday could certainly be seen as a future opponent for Chimaev irrespective of this weekend’s result.
‘Borz’ in a recent tweet wrote, “Don’t be afraid boy[referring to Alex Pereira], I promise I’ll make it real fast, see you soon”.
Don't be afraid boy, I promise I'll make it real fast, see you soon đŚđđ¤ pic.twitter.com/DRwEalaoql
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) April 6, 2023
The 28-year-old was last seen inside the octagon at UFC 279 where he fought and defeated Kevin Holland in the very first round. Even though Chimaev continued his unbeaten run in the UFC that night, he probably lost more than he gained.
As per schedule Chimaev was first scheduled to headline the UFC 279 card against Nate Diaz but missed his weight by a significant margin and hence that much-anticipated bout fell off at the very last moment.
In what weight class will Khamzat Chimaev fight next?
Chimaev heavily compromised his welterweight career in the aftermath of that disastrous weight cut. According to UFC president Dana White, he will only compete at middleweight moving forward.
When asked about the whole weight class issue, White said âYeah, heâll [Khamzat Chimaev] fight at middleweight. And yes, heâs in a position where he should be fighting top 3 guys in the world.”
Considering his past weight-cut issues, Chimaev fighting at the 185lb division sounds about right. The skills and strength Chimaev possesses can certainly prove to be a big problem for the middleweights.
Chimaev’s chance of winning the new division’s championship right away currently appears to be quite slim. For him to demonstrate his mettle, he will undoubtedly need to first face some of the top contenders like Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa, or Marvin Vettori.
