Unbeaten two-division fighter Khamzat Chimaev tweeted about his inactivity, stating he has no problems with fighting and claims the UFC simply hasn’t offered him any fights.
Khamzat Chimaev wants everyone to know that his lack of recent fights is not due to any fault of his own. The undefeated two-division contender took to Twitter on Tuesday to address his inactivity, sharing the confusion of fans who are wondering why there hasn’t been any news about Chimaev competing in 2023. According to Chimaev, he’s ready to take fights at either welterweight or middleweight, and he claims that the UFC simply hasn’t offered him any.
In a series of tweets, Chimaev expressed his frustration with the situation. “I have no problems with fights,” Chimaev wrote. “If they gave me a fight, I would have fought a long time ago. I did so many training camps and not one fight. The problem is definitely not with me. Prepared in Dubai then to Thailand, why do I train so much if there is no fight? I don’t understand.”
Chimaev last competed in September at UFC 279. The 29-year-old was originally scheduled to headline the event against Nate Diaz, but a disastrous weight cut that saw him come in 7.5 pounds over the welterweight limit forced a reshuffling of the card. Diaz remained in the main event, where he defeated new opponent Tony Ferguson, while Chimaev made short work of Kevin Holland in a 180-pound catchweight co-main event. He has fought just three times in the past 19 months following a star-making run in 2020 that saw him finish three opponents in three months. Chimaev’s career was slowed by COVID-19 complications that forced him out of a pair of bookings against Leon Edwards (a third booking was also spoiled by Edwards testing positive for COVID-19).
In his tweets, Chimaev also included a list of potential opponents, including Edwards (now the UFC welterweight champion), UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, Kamaru Usman, Belal Muhammad, Colby Covington, and Robert Whittaker. Chimaev responded directly to a tweet from Edwards, who declared that anyone at welterweight “is light work.” Chimaev wrote back to Edwards, stating, “You know who is the king.”