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Dana White may say that burgeoning star Khamzat Chimaev is getting more fights because he “wants to keep fighting,” but that doesn’t mean other fighters can follow his lead.
For many fighters in the promotion’s long history, getting to the Octagon more than twice a year has been a continuous hassle. While the potential for injury or other scheduling conflicts always looms for fighters training in MMA (and often working second jobs on the side), the simple fact is that – with a roster of well over 600 fighters – there just aren’t enough spots to keep fighters active. One fight per six months is often the best the UFC can do.
Unless, of course, you’re Khamzat Chimaev.
The Chechnyan-born Swede has taken the UFC by storm, beating John Phillips via D’Arce in a middleweight bout for his UFC debut in July, before turning around just ten days later to take on Rhys McKee—defeating the former Cage Warriors champion via first round TKO. Plans were then made to have Chimaev fight in mid-August, on the UFC 252 PPV card. Unfortunately visa issues scuppered that idea.
Now, however, Chimaev is set to take on Gerald Meerschaert on the main card of UFC Vegas 11: Covington vs. Woodley, on Saturday September 19th. And, he’s got the promise of another fight immediately after that, against former middleweight and welterweight title contender Demian Maia for mid-November. Meerschaert called the UFC’s move to jump ahead and book Chimaev out for after their upcoming fight “disrespectful.”
In a recent media scrum, following Week 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, the UFC president spoke to the media—both confirming that Chimaev vs. Maia is going ahead, and explaining his reasoning behind it (transcript via MMA Fighting).
“The thing is the guy wants to keep fighting,” White explained. “He wants all these fights back-to-back. It’s no disrespect to his opponent, he’s either gonna win or lose. That has nothing to do with us. That’s up to them. But to do that, really fight two fights in a row, you have to book them.
“For a guy like him, I would never do that for somebody else. I’d be like, ‘Relax, let’s see if you get through this fight.’ But from what I’ve seen from him, I’m willing to do that with him.”
White added that he’s personally invested in playing the game with Chimaev to see how far the 26-year-old can go, and how fast. “It’s interesting. I like it and I’ve never had a guy like this, so it’s fun. I’ll play this game with him.” And offered a more pointed response to Meerschaert’s criticism of the decision.
“It’s fascinating,” White said. “We’ve never really had anybody who is doing anything like he is right now. I can see why you would say, ‘Don’t you think it’s disrespectful to be booking a fight for him when he’s already got a fight?’ But that’s how you have to do it.”
‘Borz’ is 8-0 in his young MMA career, having taken his first pro fight just back in 2018. While he’s already too old to capture the title of youngest UFC champ, if this keeps up he just might set a record for most fights in a calendar year with the promotion.