Khamzat
Chimaev claims to have been promised a title shot on his return
to the Octagon.
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Chimaev made his middleweight debut against Kamaru
Usman at
UFC 294 in October, picking up a majority decision win over the
former welteweight champ. While “Borz” did secure the win, many
questioned whether it was enough to warrant an immediate title
shot.
The upcoming middleweight title fight between Sean
Strickland and Dricus
Du Plessis set for
UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto was announced soon after.
Chimaev’s absence from the bout also makes sense considering he
recently posted some concerning hospital pictures stating he was
recently “very sick.” However, “Borz” claims to be next in line for
a middleweight title shot after Strickland and Du Plessis fight at
UFC 297.
“A hundred percent. He [Sean Strickland] has good fighter who he’s
fighting with, Du Plessis, and if he wins against this guy for sure
we’re gonna fight 100 percent. They promised for me that fight, so
now we’re going to wait who’s winning the fight and then take the
belt,” the 29-year-old said in a recent interview with Mohammed Hijab (transcription via
LowKick MMA).
A devout Muslim, Chimaev credits his faith for a large part of his
success. “Borz,” who was born Chechen, moved to Sweden and now
represents the UAE, believes reigning champ Strickland should be
afraid to fight him or any Muslim opponent, for that matter.
“I don’t know, man. He has to be afraid. Inshallah we fight with
everyone, so the fights in the cage is not that big thing,” Chimaev
said. “If we can make some people happy who is going through hard
times and all Muslims watching us and me and Khabib, all the Muslim
fighters, Belal, we know all of the kids, our kids they’re
watching, they want to be like us. They [fighters competing against
Muslims] should be afraid of us. We fight not just for us like they
do, we fight for all Muslims.”