Khamzat Chimaev is set to come back, and he has two names he’s looking to make his return against.
Chimaev was arguably the breakthrough star of the UFC in 2020. He picked up his first two wins in the promotion in a span of ten days, running through John Phillips and Rhys McKee respectively on Fight Island. He then returned to knock out Gerald Meerschaert in 17-seconds. He looked like he was on a path to superstardom when he was matched up against number-three ranked welterweight Leon Edwards, despite it only being Chimaev’s fourth UFC fight and having been in the company less than six months. That all came to a screeching halt thanks to COVID-19.
Edwards was forced to pull out of the bout when he contracted the virus. The booking was rescheduled, but this time it was Chimaev who tested positive for the coronavirus. Unfortunately, his symptoms were much more severe, even driving him to the point of considering retirement from the sport all together.
Jump ahead to today and it appears that the illness is behind Chimaev and he is raring to go. With Nick Diaz apparently set to make his long – and boy, do I mean long – rumored return to the octagon, ‘Borgz’ told MMA Junkie that he would be more than happy to welcome him back.
“I want to fight with him,” Chimaev said. “That will be good. I watched his fight when I was a kid, now I’m going to fight with him. Perfect for me. I like it. I want to see who is the real gangster. I think he is a real gangster in this sport, but we’ll see.”
However, Chimaev also took to Twitter to let it be known that Diaz is the only name he’s targeting, taking a shot at recent welterweight title contender Jorge Masvidal.
Tell gamebred when he wake up from Saturday night I will fight him in August I’m not sure if he still sleeping
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) April 27, 2021
While you have to admire Chimaev’s tenacity going after two of the bigger fish in the game, it seems unlikely either will actually come to fruition. Any fight that will bring Diaz back into the fold will have to be against a noteworthy name. Although Chimaev has gotten a promotional push from the UFC, he likely still doesn’t have the type of resume that would interest the older Diaz brother. The same can be said for Masvidal; a fight between the two would do much more for Chimaev’s career than his own given their current standings.
Regardless of who he faces next, Chimaev has made it clear he has rather lofty goals in the UFC. He recently said in an interview that he believes he can defeat Israel Adesanya and Jan Blachowicz, the champions at middleweight and light heavyweight, respectively.
While he is still far away from challenging either of those men yet, he has thus far proven that there is no one who can stop him on his way to the top of the sport.
Who do you want to see Khamzat Chimaev fight in his return?