MOSCOW, January 23, Andrey Vasilchin. After the title fight in the middleweight of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), passions in the division escalated to the limit. One of the main stars of the promotion, representing the UAE, an undefeated mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter of Chechen origin, Khamzat Chimaev, spoke harshly to the league’s CEO Dana White and put forward strict conditions to the management.
What did they promise Borz? Neither more nor less, the long-awaited title fight!
In October 2023, Chimaev won a majority decision victory over the former UFC welterweight champion, former number one in the ratings regardless of weight categories, Kamaru Usman. And even though the American took the fight on short notice due to Brazilian Paulo Costa's staph infection, White made it clear in a conversation with Yahoo Sports journalist Kevin Lawle that if he triumphs in Abu Dhabi, Chimaev will become the No. 1 contender.
So why didn’t he fight at UFC 297? Everything was heading towards the fact that in January 2024, Khamzat would share the cage with the new UFC champion Sean Strickland. However, the meeting of the American was announced not with Chimaev at all, but with the top South African Dricus Du Plessis – the fight became the main event of the event, which took place on the night of January 21 in Toronto.
The fans were surprised: where is Borz? It turned out that the athlete himself refused the “title” due to health problems and the inability to prepare for the most important confrontation in less than three months. Khamzat got in touch with the fans and, showing pictures from the hospital, explained everything:
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“I was very sick, my arm was injured, so I couldn’t return right away. I want to tell all the fans: I want to see myself in battle more than all of you. I love this job, I will do it and prove that I am the best, as we always do. I’ll be back to training soon.”
Du Plessis, meanwhile, defeated Strickland in a close fight. And he immediately received a challenge from Chimaev to fight at the anniversary UFC 300, which Las Vegas will host in April.
Change of UFC plans and Chimaev’s anger But the South African representative himself does not want to fight Khamzat. At UFC 300, Du Plessis wants to meet with former promotion champion Israel Adesanya, who has a long-standing conflict with Drikus over who has more ties to Africa. The plans are not bad, the poster is quite interesting, the trash talk is on par… But there is White’s promise. In a good way, Adesanya should get in line.
However, it looks like the UFC wants to make a bet on Izzy. This infuriated Chimaev – the reaction of the unbeaten athlete is absolutely understandable. Here's what Khamzat said in an interview with ESPN:
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"I am the only one remaining undefeated, 13-0. And they promised me that after the fight with Usman I would fight for the title. I don’t know what’s going on… I heard Dana White say: “I don’t think Khamzat will fight for the title next.” This is complete nonsense. I'm a guy who always stands behind his words, so I don't care if it's the president or the king. Since you gave your word, you will have to answer for it. That's how it is with us. And I will be glad to confirm with action my words that I am going to finish everyone off. Maybe everything is different in the USA, there is a different mentality there.”
Also, a fighter with seven victories in the organization (five were won ahead of schedule) gave an ultimatum. He is ready to perform at a grand show in April, but on condition: either a title chance, or a meeting without a belt at stake, but for a double fee. A major challenge for White, who planned to announce the main event of the anniversary event this week.
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