"The reaper would eat you up son" - Fans react to Khamzat Chimaev seemingly confirming move to middleweight

MMA fans have reacted to a post from welterweight star Khamzat Chimaev that appears to confirm his intentions to move up to the middleweight division indefinitely.

Chimaev was recently at the heart of controversy earlier this month during UFC 279's chaotic fight week. 'Borz' was involved in a backstage altercation with Kevin Holland and Nate Diaz. He then missed weight by a shocking 7.5 lbs during the weigh-ins. The card was then reshuffled and the Chechen-born Swede was made to fight 'Trailblazer' in a catchweight bout, instead of facing Diaz in the main event.

Khamzat Chimarev dominated Holland for a little over two minutes before submitting him in round one. 'Borz' recently took to Twitter and it looks as though he's ready to tackle the middleweight division as seen in the post below.

1 8 5 👊🏼💥 https://t.co/urOK6BPayG

Many from the MMA community have reacted to the post from Chimaev, with one fan suggesting he should stay at a lower weight class to avoid fighting Robert Whittaker:

"The reaper would eat you up son. Stay down at 179 pounds."

@KChimaev The reaper would eat you up son. Stay down at 179 pounds https://t.co/jiXaWiq6Jz

Another fan hopes 'Borz' will stay at 170 lbs as he's ranked No.3 in the division and close to a title shot:

"Brother belt is too close to you First 170 Please.. 3 Weight Division we're Coming"

@KChimaev Brother Belt is too close to you First 170 Please.. 3 Weight Division we're Coming

Twitter user @DamoTee14 joked that middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is going to train even harder in the gym if Chimaev enters the division:

"Izzy gonna do a few extra miles on the treadmill after seeing this"

@KChimaev Izzy gonna do a few extra miles on the treadmill after seeing this🏃

Check out more fan reactions below:

@KChimaev 170 Title Shot first man..

@KChimaev Ok so paulo be ready for the smoke 🐺💨💨

@KChimaev Bratha, how you going to get to #3 in the division and THEN go up a weight class. That close to the belt...

@KChimaev Everyone at Middleweight thinking about 205 now

@KChimaev Him vs Costa would be fireworks

@KChimaev Let's go brother for @BorrachinhaMMA he talk too much, give him smash bro

@KChimaev Time to face the Reaper. @robwhittakermma @danawhite

@KChimaev In other news colby is returning

@KChimaev @KChimaev 🆚 @BorrachinhaMMA is the first fight for you in middleweight that makes most sense 🔥🔥🔥

@KChimaev No one should now call out Colby for ducking Khamzat. If the fight isn't even offered to him and if Khamzat cant make 170, how can you blame Colby who barely cuts any weight to make 170 itself 🙏

@KChimaev Damn I really wanted double champ

@KChimaev i think its a mistake

Michael Bisping names middleweight fighter Khamzat Chimaev must defeat for title shot

UFC Hall of Famer and former middleweight champion Michael Bisping has named Paulo Costa as the opponent for Khamzat Chimaev to defeat to put himself in middleweight title contention.

During UFC 279 fight week, Costa and Chimaev appeared to get into an altercation at the UFC Performance Institute. 'Borrachinha' maintained the story of how he was training with Jake Shields before 'Borz' and his team entered the training area and started talking smack.

Since the incident, the Brazilian has been seen regularly trolling the Chechen-born Swede on social media, hoping for a fight to be booked between the pair.

Give me tha fuc# gourmet Chen Chen Dana 🧁 https://t.co/4jB8SS6esh

In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Bisping discussed Chimaev's inevitable move to middleweight and the prospect of him fighting fan favorite Paulo Costa:

"If he [Khamzat Chimaev] goes and fights Paulo Costa, and if he beats him, he's probably going to get a title fight at 185lbs and 170 will seem like a distant memory... Costa's talking a lot of sh*t and he's trying to get Chimaev to take the bait. He's doing the right thing. That would be a massive fight."

Catch Michael Bisping discussing Khamzat Chimaev here: