Khamzat Chimaev claims Chris Weidman and Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson turned down offers to fight him
Khamzat Chimaev is considered to be one of the top prospects in the sport of MMA today.
The Russian-born Swedish fighter competed in freestyle wrestling and subsequently tried his hand at amateur MMA as well. Chimaev made his professional MMA debut in 2018; and in a relatively short period, has managed to make waves in the combat sports world with his aggressive fighting style and willingness to make quick turnarounds between fights.
Earlier this year, Chimaev broke the record for the quickest turnaround between wins in UFC history, by picking up back-to-back stoppage victories within about 10 days.
Khamzat Chimaev claims Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson and Chris Weidman aren't willing to fight him
Khamzat Chimaev made his UFC debut in a Middleweight fight against John Phillips on July 16th, 2020. Chimaev submitted Phillips with a brabo choke in round two of their contest and then went on to fight Rhys McKee in a Welterweight fight on July 26th, 2020. McKee was the recipient of a vicious attack by Chimaev who won the fight via TKO in the very first round.
Following the aforementioned pair of impressive Octagon outings, Chimaev was accorded the opportunity to fight veteran UFC fighter Gerald Meerschaert in September of this year.
The fight against Meerschaert was regarded as the biggest test of Chimaev’s MMA career thus far, with certain sections of the MMA community going as far as to suggest that this fight could see Chimaev taste defeat for the very first time in his MMA career.
Nevertheless, Chimaev ended up surprising his fans and detractors alike by knocking out Meerschaert a mere 17 seconds into their fight. The 17-second KO victory over a veteran like Meerschaert resulted in UFC President Dana White asserting that Chimaev’s next fight would be a main event bout against a ranked opponent.
Several names in the UFC Welterweight division such as Leon Edwards, Neil Magny, and BJJ legend Demian Maia have been considered for a fight against Chimaev.
However, the consensus in the MMA community was that Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson could be the ideal opponent to welcome Chimaev into the top-tier of the UFC.
Stephen Thompson, however, recently revealed that he isn’t interested in fighting Khamzat Chimaev right now as a fight with the unranked Chimaev wouldn’t benefit Thompson who is ranked number-5 in the UFC Welterweight division.
Chimaev has now taken to his official Twitter account and put forth a tweet whereby he claims that both Stephen Thompson and Chris Weidman have been offered a fight against him, but they’ve both turned the offer down.
Khamzat Chimaev’s tweet read as follows –
“I just want to let my fans know and the people who support me the ufc offer me wonder boy and he turned it down at 170 and also chris Weidman at 185 who also turned it down. I’m coming for everyone”
Is Chris Weidman the right opponent for Khamzat Chimaev?
Chris Weidman is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and possesses a considerable amount of experience as regards headlining UFC events.
A main event Middleweight fight between Chris Weidman and Khamzat Chimaev would be a give the latter a chance to prove that he can defeat top-ranked fighters in the UFC, whilst also giving Weidman the opportunity to beat the up-and-comer and steal his momentum.
Who’d you like to see Khamzat Chimaev face next? Sound off in the comments.