Khamzat Chimaev calls out dangerous grappler after UFC 319 title win, gets two-word response

It appears Khamzat Chimaev is seemingly interested in a fight against Reinier de Ridder next. The Chechen-born grappling maestro recently took to social media to make his intentions known, to which de Ridder issued a two-word response.

Chimaev is coming off a dominant title victory over Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 in Chicago last weekend. Despite many counting him out, 'Borz' dominated du Plessis over five rounds with his superior grappling skills and secured a unanimous decision victory to become the new UFC middleweight champion. In the aftermath, he claimed that he was ready to fight again this year.

With de Ridder last beating Robert Whittaker via split decision at UFC Abu Dhabi in July, and calling for a championship opportunity after the fight, it appears Chimaev is ready to grant him his wishes.

In a recent X post, Chimaev posted a one-word message accompanied by a skull and crossbones emoji signaling his interest in fighting de Ridder next. He wrote:

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"RDR."

In response, de Ridder seemingly channeled his inner Khabib Nurmagomedov and wrote in the comments section:

"Send location."

The Dutchman is notably on a four-fight win streak in the UFC and has recorded wins over high-profile opponents like Bo Nickal and Kevin Holland.

Reinier de Ridder reacts to Khamzat Chimaev beating Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319

Reinier de Ridder recently shared his reaction to Khamzat Chimaev dominating Dricus du Plessis in their title fight at UFC 319 last weekend. The Dutchman wasn't impressed with du Plessis' grappling skills and sounded off on the South African fighter for not preparing well for Chimaev's pressure.

In an interview on Submission Radio, de Ridder reflected on du Plessis' grappling exchanges with Chimaev. Questioning the South African's decision-making process during the fight, he said:

"Why isn't he trying that? Like, what was the number one thing you're surprised Dricus didn't try in this fight? I was very frustrated with him going for the guillotine like twice, very sloppily. It's hard to get up sometimes when somebody is on your back like that, when they were against the wall, the side turtle position with the hands locked. But there are a few tricks he could have done better there."

He continued:

"He was basically just holding Khamzat on top of him. Maybe this is something I've wondered before, but maybe this is a factor. Who is he really training with there in South Africa? Does he have a decent wrestler? Does he have guys of that level to train with? I'm not sure."

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Edited by Nishant Zende.