While Khamzat Chimaev and Nassourdine Imavov both sit in the upper echelon of the UFC middleweight division, a clash between the two does not seem imminent if the former has his say in matters. This was imparted by the reigning UFC middleweight champion during a recent interview with ESPN MMA.
An excerpt of the chat was posted by X account @RedCorner_MMA as Khamzat Chimaev addressed the number two contender in the weight category he helms over, with Chimaev saying,
“He’s a good guy. Like I know him, he knows me, we know each other. If you ask me, I don’t want to fight this guy because we know each other. Like as a Muslim, he’s from Dagestan, and you know how is Dagestan, Chechen people. Like there will be a lot of drama on the internet and all this s**t. All these things I don’t like about it.”
“But if UFC wants it, bro, I’m never going to say no. If the guy wants it I tell his manager as well. I’m like brother if Nassourdine wants, I will do no problem. If he says it can wait till I move up, I’m like not going to say no. I want to fight this guy. So for me, it doesn’t matter.”
Khamzat Chimaev addresses top UFC middleweight contenders
Khamzat Chimaev recognizes Nassourdine Imavov as a top possible candidate for challenging his throne, but ‘Borz’ also addressed some other major players in the wake category. In the same ESPN MMA interview referenced above, Chimaev also touched on potential names he could possibly fight in the future, like former 185-pound champion Sean Strickland, as well as surging contender Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez.
Chimaev mentioned that these fights did not necessarily excite him and that taking either of those future bouts would be more tied to the need to continue to make money. Khamzat Chimaev is open to more big-name matchups in subsequent outings, but does not see the big names at middleweight, which perhaps has motivated some of his rhetoric regarding wanting to move up to light heavyweight.