It’s the same old story for Khamzat Chimaev, no matter how high he rises in the rankings: he wants to stay extremely busy, but no one wants to fight against fiery Chechen power.
Chimaev is now 12-0 MMA (6-0 UFC) and ranked No. 3 at welterweight. But after being severely underweight for his last fight at UFC 279, there’s a question mark over whether he’ll stay at 170 or move up to 185. For “Borz,” it’s really about know where he can find someone who will actually sign. scrap the dotted line.
It does not matter [if it’s 170 or 185], just need an opponent,” he said in a video blog from Dubai. “I’m tired of doing it, the trash is talking. It’s not my game. I’m next for the title, so… who are these guys going to fight?
Although it’s not his game, Chimaev has a knack for knocking down potential opponents. He has made it clear that he still wants a piece of new middleweight champion Alex Pereira, who is set to face Israel Adesanya in early 2023.
“Alex Pereira, he’s 6-1, he lost,” Chimaev said. “I have never lost in my life. And he lost to a… dude, the dude’s not in the UFC either. The UFC doesn’t want it, the guy doesn’t want it. What will I do? I just wanna fight, give me someone. If guys run away from me, just give me someone.
Khamzat’s video showed what looks like a camp in full swing, and he confirmed he was training like he had a signed fight, even though he didn’t.
“Nobody wants to fight. F— those boys. They gave me four different countries, four different opponents, nobody wants to fight.
“Training camp, brother! Go fight someone. I don’t know who,” he said. “They change opponents all day, all the time. So every week I have a new opponent. But no one wants to fight. Guys talk a lot of trash, a lot of me. ‘I want to fight you! I want to fight you!’ But when it comes to fighting and signing the contract, they want to run away.
“I’m always ready. We’ll see what happens now. I think it will be, hopefully, Vegas in March. We’ll see, but I don’t know who.
The UFC has made no secret that they hope to set up Khamzat Chimaev against Colby Covington, but we have heard very little from Covington and his team regarding this possibility. We bet ‘Chaos’ is one of the many fighters Chimaev is talking about when he says no one will sign to fight him. With two weight classes in play, hopefully there are enough options at the top of the divisions to lock in something worthy that “Borz” will train hard for.
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