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Khamzat Chimaev has never been shy with his call outs, and now he's combining several big fight demands into one social media post.
The rising star of the welterweight division recently took to Twitter to post some impressive fan art along with a threat to the biggest draws at 170 lbs. He listed out Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz, and Conor McGregor, while also adding a skull emoji at the end of each of their social media handles.
Chimaev is coming off a wild unanimous decision win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 in April. That win propelled him all the way to the top of the welterweight division in the official UFC rankings, where he now sits at No.3. Only Leon Edwards, Colby Covington, and welterweight champion Kamaru Usman sit above him.
With Kamaru Usman currently recovering from an injured tendon in his hand, there's no date for his next title defense against Leon Edwards. That may be why Chimaev is currently looking to stir up some interest in big money fights against opponents outside of the title contention picture. Unfortunately for 'Borz' and fans, it's extremely unlikely that any of Chimaev's three targets will accept a fight against him.
Nate Diaz has repeatedly turned down fights with Khamzat Chimaev. Jorge Masvidal would rather fight Gilbert Burns than be out-wrestled again, and it almost seems laughable to imagine the UFC putting Conor McGregor in a cage against Chimaev. It's a testament to the Chechen fighter's skills that his profile is so high yet the number of athletes willing to fight him is so low.
Gilbert Burns says Kamaru Usman's fight IQ will make the difference against Khamzat Chimaev
One man who has faced Khamzat Chimaev's power and walked away unimpressed is Gilbert Burns. 'Dorinho' and Chimaev fought a back-and-forth war that ended in a close decision win for 'Borz.' Burns is now giving welterweight champion Kamaru Usman the edge to beat Chimaev should they meet in the future.
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Burns said:
“I think Kamaru, the fight IQ with wrestling and striking is better than this guy. With the timing, the movement, with mixing things up, the feints, the angles, I think Kamaru is a level above this guy still. I think Khamzat will be tough, but it’s nothing Kamaru hasn’t seen. I stuffed one takedown, he took me down one time, but nothing [serious]. Kamaru’s IQ is different.”
Khamzat Chimaev's coaches may agree if he fights the same way against Usman that he did against Burns. In between rounds two and three, Chimaev's coach was literally screaming at his pupil to stop brawling and follow their game plan. However, Chimaev went back out and continued to fight like a wildman. He won in the end, but it wasn't a close victory.
It will be interesting to see if the 'Borz' we see in the future is more calm and collected.
Fight fans can check out the video below on UFC NFTs:
