“Borz” claims four fighters have refused to fight him recently, so UFC commentator, Daniel Cormier, made a list of likely suspects.
Khamzat Chimaev is looking to get back into the cage as soon as possible, but is once again having a hard time finding an opponent who will sign on the dotted line.
It’s a regular complaint for the Chechen powerhouse, who plowed through the competition at 170- and 185-pounds in his first few fights with UFC. After that fast start with multiple bouts over several months, the roster woke up to the danger he represented.
Since then, each bout has become a slow and painful affair to set up.
In a recent training video, Chimaev claimed UFC offered him four fights in four different countries, but every bout fell through because “no one wants to fight.” On his YouTube channel, Daniel Cormier broke down the 170- and 185-pound landscape to speculate on whether that statement was true and who those four fighters were.
“Every so often a guy comes and he seems to strike fear in his division,” Cormier said. “The late great Anthony Johnson, I remember him coming to 205 and everybody immediately was on notice. We’ve seen this multiple times over the course of time. Khamzat Chimaev was doing it in two weight classes and recently went so far as to state he had been offered four different opponents in four countries and no one wanted to fight him so he called them all b—ches.
“If Kevin Lee is the first name that pops up when Chimaev says he wants to fight, it’s crazy because there’s a number of guys in the UFC right now, Welterweight and Middleweight, that aren’t speaking up.”
After touching on the iffy title fight situation between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman in March, Cormier went through his list of fighters UFC may have called.
“Belal Muhammad — I bet he was one of the guys that they called,” he said. “And prior, he said he would fight him. But, I bet for Belal Muhammad now, it’s a little different. Because as I stated, it ain’t gonna be Kamaru Usman [vs Leon Edwards in the UK, due to Usman injuries]. So, why not Belal? He looked as impressive as he ever has against Sean Brady, a guy nobody wanted to fight. Belal cleaned him out, made him look like they weren’t even on the same level. So, why not Belal? So if he said ‘no,’ I imagine he said ‘no’ because the title fight seems closer than it ever was before.
“And Kamaru Usman and Belal Muhammad share the same manager,” Cormier continued. “What if Belal Muhammad understands, to a further degree than we do, Kamaru Usman and his recovery. Because if that’s the case, he’d be smart to wait.
“Colby Covington — that’s the fight,” Cormier added. “And I’ve always thought this was the fight. Because if he fights Colby Covington, it would show us where he truly stands in the welterweight division. Because he has beaten others, but to beat Covington really tells you whether or not you’re ready for a championship. Because we’ve seen many people go to Covington, get beat, and get pushed back. Colby possesses a style that seems to present problems for Khamzat Chimaev. Do I believe Colby got the call? Absolutely.
“What’s the reason behind Colby Covington saying, ‘no?’ I don’t know … Maybe the guy’s looking at the division knowing he’s lost twice to Usman. Seeing Leon Edwards as champion and going ‘Wait a minute, what if I’m next? What if all I gotta do is win one fight, and it’s not Chimaev?’ … Seems as though everyone has their eyes solely set on the new champion, and it’s limiting them in what they’re willing or going to do.
“Robert Whittaker. This is the fight that makes sense, and it makes sense right now. Because the way Khamzat stated his quote, it made it sound like he was ready to go right now … I don’t know why Chimaev vs. Whittaker in the co-main under Volkanovski vs. Makhachev doesn’t make ultimate sense. Big wrestler, that’s Robert Whittaker. Former champion: Robert Whittaker.”
“DC” added, though, that he didn’t believe Whittaker would have turned down Chimaev. In Cormier’s mind, Khamzat isn’t scarier than Yoel Romero, an opponent “The Reaper” faced without hesitation … twice.
“Marvin Vettori — Top 5 guy, been in the game a long time,” he said. “Another big wrestler. Would make for a great fight with Chimaev. I love that fight, I love that match up. Because that would tell you that Chimaev is ready at middleweight also.
“Paulo Costa’s about done with his UFC contract,” Cormier concluded. “UFC will give you a fight to make you prove why they should pay you if you’re at the end. Because if Paulo Costa goes and beats Khamzat Chimaev, he’ll get anything he wants. For him, it makes sense. But if he gets beaten and wiped out, now what? Bargaining power is a little bit less. Do you still move the needle? A little bit. But imagine if you’re the first guy to beat Khamzat? Then you hold all the chips. I mean the dollars, the dinero.”
In the end, though, Khamzat Chimaev remains without a fight. And Cormier was right: if anyone on that list really wanted to fight “Borz,” the time to call him out was when Chimaev claimed no one wanted to fight him. Instead, we got crickets.
Of course, Chimaev did release that video on Christmas day, so most fighters were probably busy enjoying the holidays with their families. But, now that the holidays are almost over, it’s the perfect time for anyone who really wants it to win the Khamzat sweepstakes.