The night Islam Makhachev became the UFC’s newest double champion, something quiet, subtle, and surprising happened. Khamzat Chimaev, the usually unpredictable middleweight champion, broke a silence that had lingered for years. While Madison Square Garden buzzed with Makhachev’s historic welterweight triumph over Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322, fans spotted a different headline forming online: ‘Borz’ had posted a message that didn’t take aim at rivals or hype his next fight.

Instead, it honored the people many believed he had long-standing tension with. The timing? Mere hours after Makhachev joined the elite group of dual-division UFC champions. But what sparked this rare moment of unity?

Khamzat Chimaev’s Instagram post set the tone. Against a dramatic mountainous backdrop, almost a metaphor for the similarities between their rugged homelands of Dagestan and Chechnya, he wrote, “The wolf and the eagle are not always close, but when you need to protect the mountains, they will always protect them together!” It was cryptic. Poetic. And unmistakably symbolic.

But to understand why these words matter, you have to revisit the history. Their tension dates back to 2021. Team Khabib’s Abubakar Nurmagomedov once warned Chimaev to “be careful,” after comments about ‘The Eagle’ had irritated the Dagestani team. Things escalated until both men were physically separated cageside at UFC 280. The rift only cooled after Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov reportedly personally mediated what he called a small misunderstanding. Even then, fans could sense the rivalry simmering.

But in 2024, Khamzat Chimaev finally explained what had caused the initial friction. When he burst into the UFC with dominant wins, comparisons to Khabib Nurmagomedov flooded social media. According to him, “Of course, when you achieve some good results, they say saying ‘oh, he’s is like Khabib or Adlan Amagov…’ But everyone has their own achievement. I’ve got mine, Khabib and Adlan has got theirs…every fighter wants to create his own legacy.”

His reaction? ‘Borz’ continued, “I just got triggered as someone said that Khabib would smash me, so I responded to that dude. Although I should have not done it. I said, ‘Ok, if Khaib wants to smash me, I am ready to smash him’ and they just hyped that up.” Fast forward to UFC 322, and this time, the respect flowed unmistakably.

Islam Makhachev’s performance, becoming the eleventh double champion in UFC history, sent shockwaves through the sport. He dominated at welterweight just as he once dominated at lightweight. And Chimaev’s response was almost humble as he wrote online, “Congratulations Dagestan.” No bravado. No rivalry. Just admiration, but the middleweight champion has also been making waves online for his recent exchanges with Alex Pereira!

Khamzat Chimaev accepts Alex Pereira’s “easy money” call-out for a grappling match

It began with a challenge buried a month deep in internet dust. Out of nowhere, ‘Poatan’ revived it. The light heavyweight king, fresh off his knockout win over Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320, suddenly responded to Chimaev’s old callout. And instead of dismissing “Borz,” he leaned into it with something unexpected.

In a video shared on social media, the Brazilian fired off with, “That guy says he wants to fight with me, he’s gotta get out there, understand? He’s far, but I could challenge fight in his area if he wants. Let me look at you directly, let’s fight in your area. Let’s fight in grappling.” He even pointed to the UFC’s newly launched “UFC BJJ” platform with, “Let’s do that then, let’s make it happen.”

But Pereira didn’t stop there. He raised the stakes with a twist that turned the challenge into a headline: he vowed to donate the entire purse as he continued, “I don’t even know how much I’ll make – good money, though, you know who I am, the money is good — that money will be donated 100 percent to charity. That work for you? Chama.”

At a time when most fighters negotiate pay bumps, Pereira pitched philanthropy. But Chimaev didn’t blink. He didn’t negotiate as he immediately responded with a simple yet telling message as he wrote on social media, “Let’s go, easy money.”

On paper, it’s irresistible. Alex Pereira, the striker with a rapidly evolving ground game, against Khamzat Chimaev, the relentless wrestler who has long believed he can dominate anyone in close quarters. And because both men hold UFC belts, it becomes more than grappling because if UFC BJJ wanted a blockbuster, it may have just stumbled into its first megafight.

As such, Khamzat Chimaev managed to show two very different sides of himself, the respectful ally and the relentless hunter. His cryptic tribute to Team Khabib hinted at a maturity long missing from their past disputes, almost as if UFC 322 reminded him where he comes from and who shaped the mountains he spoke of. Yet in the same breath, he reignited a rivalry with Alex Pereira that feels destined to spill into some arena, cage, or mat!