Khamzat Chimaev is making waves in the fighting world. He’s made a bold claim of being promised a title shot upon his return to the Octagon.
His middleweight debut was against Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 in October. The match ended with Chimaev scoring a majority decision win over the former welterweight champ. However, this victory sparked a debate. Many questioned if it was enough to warrant an immediate title shot.
In the meantime, an upcoming middleweight title fight was announced. It’s set between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. The event, UFC 297, is scheduled for Jan. 20 in Toronto.
Chimaev’s absence from this bout is understandable. He recently shared some worrying hospital pictures, revealing he was “very sick”. Despite this, “Borz” is confident. He claims to be next in line for a middleweight title shot after Strickland and Du Plessis duke it out at UFC 297.
“Borz” is pretty sure about his shot. He said, “A hundred percent. He [Sean Strickland] has a good fighter who he’s fighting with, Du Plessis, and if he wins against this guy for sure we’re gonna fight 100 percent. They promised me that fight, so now we’re going to wait who’s winning the fight and then take the belt.” He made these comments in a recent interview with Mohammed Hijab.
Chimaev is a devout Muslim. His faith plays a significant role in his success. Born Chechen, raised in Sweden, and representing the UAE, he believes reigning champ Strickland should fear him or any Muslim opponent.
In his words, “I don’t know, man. He has to be afraid. Inshallah we fight with everyone, so the fights in the cage is not that big thing. If we can make some people happy who are going through hard times and all Muslims watching us and me and Khabib, all the Muslim fighters, Belal, we know all of the kids, our kids they’re watching, they want to be like us. They [fighters competing against Muslims] should be afraid of us. We fight not just for us like they do, we fight for all Muslims.”