The middleweight title picture in the UFC faced yet another major change the past weekend at UFC 297. Dricus Du Plessis beat Sean Strickland to become the third champion in four months at 185 pounds in the UFC. Following the win, Dana White stated that Israel Adesanya might be next for the newly crowned champion. White also confirmed that Khamzat Chimaev will not be next in line and this has left the 29-year-old fuming. ‘Borz’, in a recent interview with ESPN MMA, shared his thoughts on White’s false promise.
During the conversation, Brest Okamoto asked Chimaev what he made of Dana White’s comments in the post-fight press conference regarding his title shot ambitions. A furious Chimaev said,
“And all these guys fight each other. It is only me that is undefeated, undisputed 13-0. They promised me after Usman fight, you will for sure fight for the title. I win that fight, I don’t know what is going on. I hear Dana White say, I don’t think Khamzat next for the title so that is the bullsh*t man.
The 29-year-old further shared his thoughts on Dana White not being a man of his word. He said,
“If you promise me something you have to answer for it, so that is the bullsh*t man. If you promise me something, you have to answer for it…I don’t care if it’s some president or somebody like a king. If you give me your word, you have to answer for that”
Unfortunately for Chimaev, there are a few factors outside Dana White’s control, like the fact that he will not be fighting in the United States anytime soon.
The real reason why Khamzat Chimaev is not being given the next title shot
‘Borz’ is currently banned from entering the United States. Chimaev is Russian by citizenship, and due to the ongoing war with Ukraine, he is unable to enter the United States. To make things worse, Chimaev has extremely strong ties with Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov, who is banned from entering the United States. This means that the only way Chimaev can fight in the UFC is when the promotion goes to Abu Dhabi later this year.
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This means that the champion will have to be on the sidelines for more than half a year in order to fight Chimaev, which is not something that either Dana White or Dricus Du Plessis will agree to. Therefore, it seems as though Chimaev will have to wait a bit longer for his shot at the title.
