It didn’t take more than a couple of fights for the UFC brass and fans of the sport to predict that Khamzat Chimaev was destined to be a huge star one day. This week, the UFC middleweight is not poised to join one of the most elite clubs on social media, seemingly inching closer to fulfilling that destiny.
Chimaev, a fan-favorite finisher at the middleweight limit, is poised to fight middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis upon return. Currently boasting the number three rank in the division, Chimaev is riding a 14-fight winning spree and is even being touted as the betting favorite against the South African champion.
But as of right now, he’s working overtime to prove that the rumors about the UFC’s lack of star power remains just that- a toothless rumor. Overtaking heavyweight champion Jon Jones (9.506m) for followers on the Meta-backed platform, Chimaev has reached a dizzying 9.532 million followers on Instagram.
Khamzat Chimaev (9.532M) has now passed Jon Jones (9.506M) in Instagram followers
He is now in the top 5 for most followed UFC fighters EVER
▫️ Conor McGregor (46.8M)
▫️ Khabib Nurmagomedov (38.6M)
▫️ Ronda Rousey (17.2M)
▫️ Islam Makhachev (10M)
▫️ Khamzat Chimaev (9.5M) pic.twitter.com/hfySIP4rlu— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) March 12, 2025
It is often unusual for grapplers to have such following among fans. While Khabib was the first among the ground game experts to crack the code, he was aided in principle by a reckless McGregor ahead of UFC 229 in 2018. Islam, of course, rode in on Khabib’s success and eventually compounded it with dominant title wins and defenses, which makes Chimaev’s success all the more impressive.
Of all his would-be peers on the list, he is the only one without a UFC title to their name.
Chimaev’s metoeric rise explained
Landing in the Octagon back in 2020, Chimaev would immediately attract the masses in the UFC. Debuting with a D’Arce choke over John Philips in July 2020, Chimaev would return in 10-days time to stop Rhys McKee with strikes.
The outing came as a record-setting return in the least amount of days between fights in the modern era. These were the first two bodies in hi trail of 8.
Add to this a penchant for aura farming at the cost of his colleagues, and Chimaev’s social media profiles blew up in no time. There was a brief fall after 2020, when Chimaev continued to miss weight and pull out of fights, but since his successful and brutal return at UFC 308 last year against former champion Robert Whittaker, that problem has resolved itself.
Vowing to take on all comers on both his Instagram and X account, anytime Chimaev posts, it’s to major fanfare. Now, with the UFC middleweight title within sniffing distance of the Chechen wolf, that fanfare is only expected to escalate, especially should he defeat a champion with Jon Snow-levels of plot armor.
However, looking at Chimaev’s remarks about Du Plessis’ last fight against Sean Strickland, one would assume he’s already throwing shade at the big South African.
“Biggest bullsh*t is this fight,” Chimaev posted on X following the UFC 312 headliner.
Biggest bullshit is this fight
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) February 9, 2025
It will be interesting to see if the Chechenya-born, now an Emirati citizen, Chimaev can truly live up to the expectations he’s been burdened with or just remain another flash in the pan in an age of social media mirage.
