Undefeated welterweight contender, Khamzat Chimaev has accused the UFC from preventing him from fighting for a championship under their banner, blaming the Dana White-led organization for his continued spell of inactivity since September of last year.
Chimaev, the current number four ranked welterweight contender, is slated to co-headline UFC 294 next month in Abu Dhabi, UAE – taking on one-time middleweight title challenger, Paulo Costa in a return to the middleweight limit, as the two clash in a potential title-eliminator.
Sidelined from the Octagon since he took co-main event honors at UFC 279 last September, Chimaev landed his twelfth consecutive victory – defeating recent Noche UFC feature, Kevin Holland with a dominant opening round D’Arce choke submission win.
Khamzat Chimaev blames his lack of activity on the UFC
However, yet to compete in the entire year since, Chimaev, who had previously blamed the UFC for his lack of activity over the course of the last annum, has claimed the organization are preventing him from fighting for an Octagon title.
“I don’t know why the guys [UFC] are waiting,” Khamzat Chimaev said on his official YouTube channel. “Give that chance [to fight for a championship] to me. They are hiding that belt from me.”
“Anyway, like I said: when I smash everybody, they have to give that belt to me,” Khamzat Chimaev concluded.
Prior to his submission win over impromptu opponent, Holland, Chimaev turned in a close decision win over former welterweight title challenger, Gilbert Burns last year to boot – and also offered props to newly-crowned middleweight champion, Sean Strickland on his championship win over Israel Adesanya earlier this month.
“He works hard, he deserves it,” Khamzat Chimaev said of Sean Strickland. “The guy is always in the gym. Now he got the belt. He has a good coach, a good team. I’ve been there training with that guy. They deserve that belt. He has been active, and fights with everybody.”