Dana White posts screenshot of call with Khamzat Chimaev amid fake news of tension between the two
Dana White recently went off on mainstream MMA media for publishing misleading stories and clickbait headlines.
According to a popular recent narrative, White and Khamzat Chimaev allegedly weren't on good terms due to some issues booking a fight for the Chechen-born Swede. However, the UFC president rubbished any such rumors and took to Instagram to call out the "fake news" being published about him regularly.
Dana White posted a screenshot of one such headline, which implied that his relationship with Khamzat Chimaev had gone sour, and the grappling phenom allegedly unfollowed him and other UFC executives on social media. He captioned the post:
"This is the “media”. I could literally do this every day with almost every story that’s written. Everything these people write is total and absolute bulls**t."
White further proved his point by posting a screenshot of his video call with Khamzat Chimaev on his Instagram story. He wrote in his post:
" @khamzat_chimaev. So f**kin tired of the FAKE NEWS. Don't believe ANY of this BULLS**T."
Upon inspection, Khamzat Chimaev has not unfollowed Dana White, Sean Shelby, or Mick Maynard on Instagram.
While rumors of their fallout were fueled by the fact that it's been a while since 'Borz' fought, White confirmed that the UFC is working on booking a fight for Chimaev at the UFC Vegas 73 post-fight presser.
Dana White shares an update on Khamzat Chimaev's next fight
Dana White hasn't forgotten about Khamzat Chimaev.
'Borz' is undoubtedly one of the most exciting fighters on the UFC roster and has showcased remarkable grappling skills that set him apart from other fighters in his division. Except for Gilbert Burns, the undefeated fighter has finished every single opponent inside two rounds.
Chimaev last fought Kevin Holland at UFC 279 in September 2022 after failing to make weight to fight Nate Diaz. 'Borz' submitted Holland in under three minutes of the opening round. Since then, while he's been linked to various opponents, the 29-year-old has yet to book a fight.
At the recent UFC Vegas 73 presser, Dana White shared some updates on Chimaev's return to action. Addressing speculation of a potential Khamzat Chimaev vs. Kamaru Usman fight, he said:
"I think that it's a fight that Usman wants... Usman literally came to the office to lobby for that fight... Obviously, we've been making a lot of announcements lately. We haven't made that announcement yet because we don't have a fight done yet. But we're working on stuff for Khamzat."
Watch the full press conference below: