UFC analyst questions Khamzat Chimaev achieving "great champion" status in terms of title defenses: "Who knows when he fights again?"

UFC analyst Din Thomas recently questioned whether Khamzat Chimaev could stay active as a champion. Thomas opined that he didn't see Chimaev fighting as often as fans think he will, and addressed 'Borz' calling for a fight in October.

Chimaev became the UFC middleweight champion after defeating Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 last month. Despite many backing du Plessis to get the job done, Chimaev dominated the South African over five rounds to win via unanimous decision.

Before the fight, Thomas pointed out the Chechen-born grappling savant's poor activity record over the past few years and opined that it wouldn't be ideal for the UFC if he won the championship.

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Thomas doubled down on his concerns regarding Chimaev and said:

"Apparently, people didn’t feel the way I felt about Khamzat and his frequency, and people thought I didn’t want him to win. I predicted him to win. I think he’s the better fighter... But it is what it is. I’m just saying he’s a great fighter, but the idea of him being a great champion in terms of defending the belt a lot, I still don’t see it happening."

He continued:

“The fact that he said he wanted to fight in Abu Dhabi, and as soon as he said that, like almost right afterwards, they booked 'Fluffy' [Anthony Hernandez] and Reinier de Ridder, and they knew that they had Caio Borralho and Imavov in the fight [UFC Paris]. So that took him out of October automatically. So yeah, I just didn’t see any real authenticity in him fighting in October. Who knows when he fights again?" [H/t: BJ Penn]

Watch the full interview below:

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Islam Makhachev's manager addresses potential Khamzat Chimaev fight

While Khamzat Chimaev is open to the idea of fighting Islam Makhachev in a fight for the pound-for-pound #1 spot, the Dagestani grappling savant's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, isn't too hopeful of such a matchup materializing.

Ahead of Makhachev's welterweight title fight against Jack Della Maddalena, Abdelaziz addressed the possibility of the former lightweight champion facing Chimaev in the future. In an interview with Submission Radio, he said:

"This fight, this will never happen. First of all, Khamzat is too big. I don't think he can ever make welterweight. And in a way, these guys like, they know each other. I don't think, you know, they are from the same region, and honestly, this fight makes absolutely no sense."

He continued:

"I think if Khamzat goes up and wants to fight at light heavyweight, [that] maybe makes more sense. Khamzat has so many contenders to clean out the division before he even thinks about moving to a different weight division. You have to be fair to all the contenders."