Khamzat Chimaev shares fight location after passionate callout of Leon Edwards
Khamzat Chimaev appears to have his eyes set on a date with Leon Edwards after 'Borz' challenged the champion's 'manhood' in a recent callout.
Chimaev has not competed since UFC 279 in September 2022, an unusually long time for the Chechen-born fighter, who broke the record for the quickest turn-around time between UFC wins (10 days) in 2020.
Khamzat Chimaev took to Twitter to call Leon Edwards out, and 'Borz' signaled UFC 294 in October, which takes place in Abu Dhabi, as a possible fight date. He said this:
"@Leon_edwardsmma if you are a man let's fight in Abu Dhabi."
See the tweet below:
@Leon_edwardsmma if you are a man let's fight in Abu Dhabi.
Khamzat Chimaev's callout of the welterweight champion may surprise fans. The Chechen infamously missed the 171 pound weight limit at UFC 279 by over seven pounds. His initial opponent, Nate Diaz, refused to face Chimaev following his weight miss which forced the entire main card to be shuffled around.
Rumors of a bout between 'Borz' and Kamaru Usman at 185 pounds began circulating several weeks ago, adding to speculation that Chimaev would be moving from welterweight to middleweight.
Chimaev has wins in the UFC at both welterweight and middleweight, so a move northwards makes sense for 'Borz'. But given that he is still the fourth-ranked welterweight in the promotion, matchmakers may have a specific matchup in mind.
Touted prospect Bo Nickal does not rate Khamzat Chimaev as a wrestler
Bo Nickal is one of the hottest prospects in the UFC right now across all weight divisions.
Nickal recently appeared on the UFC 290 main card, where he defeated Val Woodburn via TKO in round one.
Given Nickal's wrestling pedigree, many believed he would dominate Woodburn on the ground, but instead Nickal knocked him out with a superb combination of punches.
In September 2022 UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith stated that Bo Nickal would 'ragdoll' Khamzat Chimaev in a wrestling match.
'Borz' is known for his grappling skills, and has a freestyle wrestling record of 24-0 alongside numerous Swedish National Wrestling Championship victories.
But it appears that Bo Nickal doesn't rate Khamzat Chimaev's wrestling as highly as others. During a recent interview with Michael Bisping, Nickal was asked to share his thoughts on the Chechen's wrestling accolades and he said this:
"I don't mean to be negative towards people's skills. I obviously respect his skills, and MMA is a completely different ball game. If we were to wrestle in a match, it's a joke, it'll end in sub-60 seconds. I will kill that guy... but in an MMA fight [it's] a different ball game..."
Watch the interview below from 21:20: