"Can't just wait on the sidelines" - Ex-UFC champion urges Khamzat Chimaev to remain active instead of waiting for title shot
UFC middleweight Khamzat Chimaev recently called out president Dana White on his previous promises of a title shot.
In an interview with ESPN MMA, Chimaev insisted that he should be the next challenger for Dricus du Plessis' newly acquired middleweight championship. Former middleweight champion Michael Bisping weighed in on the situation and likened it to du Plessis' own injury that thwarted his matchup against former champ Israel Adesanya:
"I heard that come from Dana’s mouth. That was said by Dana White, of course it was. We all saw it, we saw the news and he did interviews and stuff like that. But then Khamzat got injured, he got injured in the fight with Usman so that kind of put him on the sidelines for a little bit. Okay and that’s kind of what happened to Dricus du Plessis. Remember when he knocked out Robert Whittaker, he was supposed to fight Israel Adesanya next but he was injured. So Sean Strickland got a shot and now Dricus is back."
Bisping went on to suggest that Khamzat Chimaev should not wait around for a title shot but should rather stay active:
"So, all Khamzat’s gotta do is stay on the sidelines and wait his turn. That sounds disrespectful, I’m a massive fan of Khamzat, I’m not being disrespectful. Maybe fight someone else in the meantime, maybe get another win at middleweight or maybe just wait for the situation to unfold. But you can’t just wait on the sidelines for the title fight because it’s ever evolving, it’s always moving along... It was promised but you couldn’t go to Canada and fight because you injured your hand and that wasn’t his fault so I understand the frustration But it’s a cruel world that we live in."
Check out his full comments below (5:05):
Khamzat Chimaev singles out Max Holloway as a 'special' fighter
Khamzat Chimaev named former featherweight champion Max Holloway as one of the special fighters on the UFC roster.
In his interview with ESPN MMA, Chimaev responded to Brett Okamoto's question on who he believed was a special fighter. 'Borz' highlighted Holloway's high-volume striking and his resilience as factors that set him apart.
He said:
"Yeah, of course. There's a lot of guys has a lot of special things, you know? Max Holloway is one of the guys from special. He also never give up, you know? Like always going. But nobody can throw out so many punches like him, you know? That's special, so, some guys only punch like 50 times and he have 500 times."
Check out Khamzat Chimaev's comments below (1:11):