Khamzat Chimaev’s Teammate Teases USA Fight Soon, Suggests Trump’s Presidency May Benefit Dana White’s UFC Fighters

Khamzat Chimaev might finally be making his long-awaited return to the United States amid proper fanfare. The undefeated UFC sensation has faced visa issues in the past due to his ties with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, but the tides may be turning.

The last time we saw Chimaev compete was back in 2022 when he absolutely dismantled Kevin Holland in Las Vegas at UFC 279. But since then, ‘Borz’ has been noticeably absent from U.S. events, stuck dealing with bureaucratic hurdles. This is also widely believed to be one of the main reasons behind his not getting a title shot.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting.

But this is where it begins to get interesting. Chimaev’s teammate, Guram Kutateladze, just spoke to Inside Fighting and suggested that the new political landscape could work out for the Chechnya-born fighter.

Specifically, Kutateladze asserted that Donald Trump’s return to power would benefit UFC fighters holding Russian passports.

“Trump became president, this is good for UFC and all UFC fighters. This is not a secret. Hopefully we gonna see him (Khamzat) in the US and he’s gonna fight for the belt,” Kutateladze said.

 

But it’s not just Trump who could facilitate these positive changes from Chimaev. The UFC middleweight contender has already been granted Emirati citizenship and a UAE passport as a result, which could potentially smooth out the visa process and get his career aspirations back on track.

Earlier last month, Chimaev had taken to social media to thank the kingdom for this honor and said, “ It is my privilege to be able to represent this beautiful nation both as an athlete and a citizen. I would like to thank the UAE for its support, and I will do my best to make this country proud of me.”

But it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for the middleweight contender. While he has yet to comment on it, a former world champion had asked some pertinent questions about his loyalty.

Ex-training partner lashes out at Chimaev

‘Borz’ has been in a very confusing state all his life regarding his citizenship. The Chechen moved to Sweden at a very young age in hopes of a better life.

It is there that he got into MMA and then became the international star that he is today. But all the while, he never competed for his adopted homeland as he kept his Russian passport, unwilling to give up his citizenship.

A few years after his UFC debut, Chimaev was also seen hanging out with Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov, much to the shock of many. But while most let the man do whatever he wanted to, Sean Strickland decided to poke him with some facts.

In the lead-up to this own fight against the 185 lb champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312, Strickland had called out Chimaev and said, “You fled a country, you went back and you got buddy-buddy with a dictator, and you fled again…You are and always will be a f***ing wh*re.”

Strickland had later claimed that he would not be repeating any of these statements since doing so was endangering Chimaev’s family. ‘Borz’, however, is yet to respond to these remarks by his former training partner.