What's Khamzat Chimaev going to do next?

[bng]

post stuff on media, dodging fights, excusing himself with visa/promotion issues, enjoying his non-fighting life

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Bottom line is he just needs to actually fight, he is so inactive and barely ever fights. Just fight period I say, anyone. I'm not over thinking the opponents, he just needs to fight. He will be old before you know it and have nothing to show for it. He needs to get fighting ASAP

 

[chinarice]

Hopefully a top5 MW so we can get this show on the road. It's time.

 

[RockyLockridge]

I think he's going to fight Costa.

 

[Unheralded Truth]

We all know it's gonna be in June, so let us not pretend that there's some kind of mystery around this.

We all know the UFC want to go big for their first time in the new leading fighting country, Saudi Arabia. So it's very likely going to be this card.

We also know that the UFC have opened up again on letting Chimaev cut to 170 (in the scrambles of finding a worthy ME for the 300 card). It's not out of question now.

At middleweight we have DDP wanting Izzy in Africa only, then Strickland demanding DDP for an instant rematch, then Whittaker only wanting Strickland above him and no other ranked guys. I feel like this shit is gonna be a stalemate for a while? Big egos wanting to build their perfect reality.

This leads me to believe that Edwards for the WW belt is an actual option. The guy is talking about big fights, the attention of being first in SA now when they're taking over could work. It also has to do with Dana and Hunter wanting Chim on their right side, as they went public with him earning a title shot.

That said, Canonnier is there on a win streak and would be the safe choice in terms of making weight and not risk any fuck ups. He's the other likely opponent.

 

[Tweak896]

Costa/Whittaker/Cannonier/Izzy/Strickland. Whoever fits the bill best. Which I think he smashes whoever. He's going to be champ whether sherdog likes it or not.

 

[checktheknuckles]

Khazmat should realistically fight Chris Curtis at MW if he wants to earn a title shot. A fringe top 15 guy is who he needs to fight and I think Curtis knocks him the fuck out. That would be a horrible fight for Khazmat but an actual good matchup to test his worth. Then give him a top 5-10 guy if he wins, unless he just crotch sniffs the whole time.

 

[IsNormal]

Tom Aspinall, Jamhal Hill, Jiri, and Topuria all debuted the same year as Khamzat, all were rated far below him on the best newcomers / prospect watch lists, and they've all absolutely blown past him by becoming champions in the octagon instead of on Instagram in the same amount of time, some with double the fights.

True.
To some extent his inactivity is due to health issues
* Was gonna fight Leon in late 2020 but got covid,
* Was rescheduled to march of 2021 but turned out it was long covid so had to cancel again
* Then fought 3 times with 6 months in between (Jingliang, Burns, Holland) and was gonna fight Costa 1 month later but it fell through. Took a year until he fought Usman - and we later learned Khamzat was hospitalized during that time (via deleted tweet of him in a hospital bed all puffy and rashy) and he also mentioned a hand injury which required surgery (not sure if he got it during this time)
* And then his hand got injured again in the Usman fight I think.

And now he supposedly can't travel to the US due to Kadyrov associations, so his options for last minute bookings are limited. Also unsure if he is recovering from another injury as he said he's aiming for a summer return (rather than spring, after ramadan)

Not saying this defends Khamzats behavior, annoying tweets, weight cut failure etc.
And I totally agree his gas tank is a huge question for any fights that to 3rd rounds or more. His striking defense is also not great so I can see him getting caught.

 

[IsNormal]

UFC would love to find a way to give Khamzat a title shot

* On instagram he's the most followed non-champ and the 5th most followed of all active UFC fighters (after Conor, Izzy, Jon, Islam)
* Dana said Usman vs Khamzat would be a title eliminator. Knowing Khamzat was a favorite against a lighter last minute opponent
* We know that Khamzat was "the top choice" to fight Leon for UFC300. Might have been booked if Khamzat had time to cut the weight


Khamzat being ranked 11 doesn't matter, only 4 others could get the title shot: Strickland, Whittaker, Izzy and Cannonier.

Strickland and Whittaker are going to get another fight with DDP yet, so they might go looking for another fight.
Strickland vs Cannonier 2 is possible.

 

[Simple Southerner]

 

[cws80us]

My guess is he'll continue to complain a lot about how he wants to fight but no one will fight him. Demanding title shots when he hasn't really accomplished anything to deserve one.

 

[TheBulge]

The fuck should I know.

 

[BoxingFan653]

I guess after Ramadan, we'll have a clear answer in what this guy future is.

I agree. I think if I had to guess the safest trajectory it would be less likely that he can make it to 170 and stays at 185 and loses within 2 fights.

I sadly don't see him living up to what could have been. I'm probably taking that harder than most because I'm 100% still on the Khamzat bandwagon train but at this trajectory can anyone see him beating DDP or Cannonier with his stamina issues and inactivity? I cant.

It was round 5 and DDP looked almost as fresh as round 1. Khamzat has legit stamina issues and if there has ever been 1 huge x factor on knowing someone wont be a champion or for long its not having a gas tank.

 

[Howard Moon]

Cannonier vs Chimaev

It must have been your avatar that had me reading this as Connor vs Chimaev.

Than I thought, hasn't Cokey been calling for a 185 fight with Chandler anyway? Book it!

 

[NoSmilez]

He just needs to fight. I think he just got a bit lazy. It's stressful and he made his millions from his benefactors. I don't think he would even do shows in the EU or Australia.

 

[richardjohnson]

It’ll probably end up being Costa but I don’t think he should give Paulo another chance. The guy ran his mouth for like two years only to pull out of the fight, and somehow it was Khamzat that received a bulk of the criticism. It never made sense.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

One thing must be remembered about Borz. Dana said the winner gets the next shot. Borz won, and he’s made it known he was told if he won he was next. I’d expect the promise to be honoured, too.

It doesn’t look like it’s been totally abandoned yet. And Dana hasn’t said anything to the opposite yet. But with his performance, and inability to enter the US, they may have changed their minds.

But when the UFC says these things in public. They need to honour their promises. Belal is next at WW. And Borz could/should be next for the MW TS.

But I’ve more or less stopped caring about Borz. He’s talking too much, and fighting too little. And personally I thought Strickland beat Dricus. But I’m not sure what they do next. It’s clear Dricus is a big talker but he’s already trying to make his own fights, as if he has an actual choice.

So whatever, I’ll be watching anyway.

 

[Last Falconry]

I don't know, but it will probably be very boring

 

[Urluberluu]

Whitaker or Cannonier seems logic he don't deserve a title fight
Let's see if he can beat a real top 10 midlleweight

 

[CatchtheseHands]

No one seems to want to risk their spot to fight Khamzat other than Jared. So if Jared ends up getting to challenge DDP for the belt he is basically fucked unless the UFC wants to give Vettori to Khamzat which I still believe is the only real option they have if they want him to fight this year.