Khamzat Chimaev has been a UFC champion for just four months now.
Back in August, Chimaev dominated former kingpin Dricus Du Plessis for the majority of five rounds at UFC 319. It was a long time coming for the Chechen grinder, who was in title talks at 170-pounds as early as 2020. Unfortunately, health issues and then weight management ended his would-be Welterweight rise, forcing him to Middleweight, where he had to rebuild his momentum until the “DDP” clash materialized.
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Despite the long journey to gold, “Borz” doesn’t plan for his 185-pound belt to remain for long. In a recent interview with ESPN, Chimaev reveals he only intends to defend his new crown a single time before jumping up to Light Heavyweight, where he’s very interested in chasing down Alex Pereira.
“I want for sure one more fight, and then I’m going to go one more weight class up,” Chimaev explained (via MMA Junkie). “One more fight, and I move up next fight.”
Talking about “Poatan,” Chimaev continued, “That’s a good fight for him (Jon Jones); that’s a good fight for me. Everyone knows that, the UFC knows that, but the UFC doesn’t want to give this guy to me. The guy said, ‘Oh, I come to you in jiu-jitsu, wrestling, grappling,’ I don’t know what. Grappling, jiu-jitsu is not our job. We’re UFC fighters.
“He said he can fight with Du Plessis. He accepted the fight, but now he says Khamzat is not a good fight. He says that he’s more famous than me, and that’s why I use his name. Bro, if I just say hi on my Instagram story, I make more views than his fights. So, I don’t think this guy is more famous than me.”
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Though Khamzat vs. Pereira would obviously be a blockbuster booking, it’s a little disappointing to see yet another new champion already so focused on a second belt. As we just saw at UFC 323, defending one belt multiple times is very difficult! It’s the essence of being a champion, and so many things can go wrong to end a reign.
In all likelihood, Khamzat’s announcement means that his one and only title defense will come opposite Nassourdine Imavov, while contenders like Anthony Hernandez and Sean Strickland may never get their chance. With Khamzat’s injury sidelining him until at least spring, his Middleweight reign his guaranteed to last at least that long.
