Despite completely obliterating his opponent, Kevin Holland, at UFC 279, there’s still no confirmed news about Khamzat Chimaev’s next fight. The UFC boss, Dana White, decided to move ‘Borz’ up to Middleweight, sighting his complications cutting to the Welterweight mark of 170 lbs. But, Chimaev’s Welterweight division rivals aren’t over him yet. The former Welterweight kingpin and former no.1 pound-for-pound UFC fighter, Kamaru Usman, was most eager to get his hands on ‘Borz’.
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Usman was so much into a fight against Chimaev that he himself visited White’s office to negotiate things. Later, at the UFC Vegas 73 press conference, the UFC boss revealed that he wasn’t on par with Usman’s conditions for this bout. White credited Usman for his superb achievements in the sport. But he also held onto his own stand regarding this issue. Even the UFC boss was unsure whether Usman’s preferred bout would come to fruition or not.
Dana White denied Kamaru Usman’s wish for a catchweight bout
Kamaru Usman reportedly wanted to fight ‘The Chechnyan native’ at a catchweight limit. But most UFC fans might know that there is no system for having catchweight bouts in the promotion. UFC audiences may have seen a few catchweight bouts. But most of them were just to save the cancellation of the bout after some kind of last-minute emergency.
Hence, the UFC boss’s denial in this regard was quite understandable. White dug deep into things after he was questioned about the possible Usman vs Chimaev bout at the post-UFC Vegas 73 press conference. Initially, he revealed Usman’s side, stating, “It’s a fight that Usman wants, that’s no secret”. White also mentioned that Usman “came to the office to literally lobby for that fight.”
It was understandable that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ had requested the UFC boss to grant him this fight. But White, despite acknowledging Usman’s achievements in the sport, stood firm on his decision. He stated, “Usman is one of the best guys I’ve ever worked with. I love working with the guy. Look at all the things he’s accomplished. But, I don’t do catchweights, I don’t do it.”
Understandably, the former Welterweight kingpin will probably have to move up to the Middleweight division if he wants this fight that badly.
It all started from an online altercation between Usman and Chimaev
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ can definitely be called the aggressor of this beef. A few days back, ‘ESPN MMA’ had uploaded a sparring video showcasing Chimaev. However, the 36-year-old didn’t find Chimaev’s sparring clip pretty amusing. He reacted to it with a few yawning emojis, which probably had ‘Borz’ infuriated.
Still, Chimaev didn’t choose to go rogue. But he too derided Usman with a rather respectful tweet. Chimaev’s tweet for Usman read, “@USMAN84kg, I respect you, you were one of the best, you know you’re old bro, and you know it’s my time.”
@USMAN84kg I respect you, you were one of the best, you know you're old bro, and you know it's my time 💯
However, even the UFC supremo, Dana White had no confirmation about this bout. He stated, “We have made a lot of announcements lately but we haven’t made that announcement yet. We don’t have the fight done yet.”
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Finally, the 53-year-old said, “We’re working on stuff for Khamzat.” These words from the UFC boss might douse the fans into speculations once more. Did White’s final words mean that the UFC is working on different fights for ‘Borz’? Or will this Usman vs Chimaev bout come to fruition shortly?
