Chimaev struggling to find opponent for next UFC fight
‘Borz’ is running into the same problem he faced when he first arrived in the UFC.
Khamzat Chimaev is struggling to find an opponent — again.
For his return to the Octagon, the undefeated upstart has set his sights on UFC 285, the upcoming pay-per-view scheduled for March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. And though the UFC has offered him opponents, none of them have signed on for a potential fight at that event — or any other event, according to Chimaev.
“Nobody wants to fight,” said Chimaev on a recent vlog. “F—k these boys. They gave me four different countries, four different opponents. Nobody wants to fight.”
As he waits for an opponent, there is a question about the division Chimaev expects to compete in as he continues his UFC career. Since he arrived in the promotion over two years ago, ‘Borz’ has fought at welterweight and middleweight, but a recent snafu on the scales had many questioning if he should leave one of them behind.
Originally scheduled to fight Nate Diaz at UFC 279 this past September, Chimaev weighed in at 178.5, seven-and-a-half pounds over the non-title welterweight limit. Because of the massive weight miss, the Allstars Training Center product considered a permanent move to middleweight. He has since reconsidered and plans to fight in both divisions.
“I’m going to fight somebody, I don’t know who,” said Chimaev. “They change opponents all the time. Every week I have a new opponent, but nobody wants to fight. These guys speak a lot of trash talk, a lot of s—t about me. [They] say, ‘I want to fight you, I want to fight you,’ but when it comes to the fight and signing the contract, they want to run away. I’m always ready, but we’ll see what’s going to happen now.
“It doesn’t matter [170 or 185], [I] just need some opponent,” continued Chimaev. “I’m tired to do it. The trash talking, going on Twitter – this is not my game. I am the next for the title, so who are these guys going to fight? [UFC middleweight champion] Alex Pereira, he has a 6-1 record. He lost. I never lost in my life, and he lost against a s—t guy. The guy is not in the UFC, as well. UFC don’t want it. The guy don’t want it. What am I going to do? I just want to fight. Give me somebody. If the guys run away from me, just give me somebody. I’m ready.”
UFC president Dana White has expressed interest in pairing Chimaev up with Colby Covington, but with ‘Chaos’ out of action because of ongoing legal issues, there is no guarantee that fight will happen anytime soon.