Unbeaten middleweight contender, Khamzat Chimaev has blasted promotional CEO, Dana White following UFC 297 over the weekend, claiming the former “promised” him a shot at divisional gold next, and any talk of another challenger to Dricus du Plessis is simply “bullsh*t”.
Chimaev, the current number nine ranked middleweight contender, most recently turned in a close, majority decision win over former undisputed welterweight champion and prior pound-for-pound number one, Kamaru Usman – improving his unbeaten record to 13-0 as a professional to boot.
Khamzat Chimaev frustrated with UFC boss, Dana White
Initially billed to fight former title chaser, Paulo Costa in an official billed title eliminator at UFC 294 until the Brazilian was forced from the bout due to a bursitis injury, Chimaev has hit out at promotional boss, White, for seemingly breaking a “promise” he made of guaranteeing him a title fight after his win over Usman.
“All these guys fight me, but I’m not the only one undefeated and undisputed,” Khamzat Chimaev told ESPN MMA. “13-0, so I don’t know. They [the UFC] promised me after [the] (Kamaru) Usman fight, ‘You will for sure going to fight for the title’, and I win that fight. I don’t know what’s going on. I heard Dana White say stuff like, ‘I don’t think Khamzat is next for the title.’ That’s bullsh*t, man.”
“If you promised me something, you have to answer for your words,” Khamzat Chimaev explained. “I’m the guy who always answers for my words so I don’t care if it’s some president or something, like a king. If you give me your word, you have to answer for that. So, I grow up, when I give word, you have to answer for it… We’re doing that. I will be happy to answer for my word about killing them, man. So, we’ll see – maybe in the USA, it’s a different mentally.”
What do you make of Khamzat Chimaev’s spat with Dana White?