Khamzat Chimaev has put forward his hit list of who he wants to face next in the Octagon. The hitlist consists of UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira and Colby Covington.
Within hours of attaining the UFC middleweight championship, Chimaev had his sights set on facing Alex Pereira. The rising Chechen called for the newly crowned champion at UFC 283, which takes place in Brazil on Jan.21. Chimaev then wants to return to middleweight to face Covington in Las Vegas for the rumoured card on March 6th.
Chimaev revealed he had informed UFC president Dana White and matchmaker Sean Shelby of what he would like next.
Khamzat Chimaev Knows What He Wants
“I’m ready for Pereira too in Brazil and directly after that March if Colby wanna fight,” Chimaev told ESPN. “So I think I might fight for the title 84 (kgs) and then go down to 77 (kgs) and fight Colby as well.”
He added, “Who’s fighting in Brazil? I don’t understand. It’s not that good of an event, so if they let us fight, it will be a big event.”
The boss didn’t respond to Chimaev, but Shelby did and liked the idea of Chimaev vs. Covington in March.
“He said, ‘OK brother, we go first Colby,’ so maybe Colby,” Chimaev said. “For me it doesn’t matter. Colby is just not talking about that fight and about me. Colby when he fights somebody, he just doesn’t stop talking… so we will see.”
Chimaev has also been aware of recent callouts from Belal Muhammad, who is coming off a career-best performance over Sean Brady at UFC 280.
“Belal talking about me as well so (if) he’s ready, he’s ready so for me it actually doesn’t matter,” Chimaev said. “Just give me some fight and let’s fight. I’m ready. I’m ready for both divisions as well.”
The 28-year-old remains undefeated thus far in his career with a bucketload of highlight reels for the memory books. Chimaev’s last outing came at UFC 279, where he quickly steamrolled Kevin Holland in the first round. The bout was a catchweight contest after Chimaev missed weight ahead of his scheduled bout with Nate Diaz, which forced White to reshuffle the card.
Who would you like to see Khamzat Chimaev face next?
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