Khamzat Chimaev sets lofty goal for 2025 after just two UFC fights in two years
01/27/2025 09:38 AM
From one of the most active fighters on the UFC roster to one of the most inactive, Khamzat Chimaev still plans on capturing a UFC title this year.
Chimaev burst onto the scene with a streak of three victories in roughly 70 days during COVID-era UFC. He wasn’t touted as the next best thing until the UFC pushed him into higher-tier fights against perennial contenders Gerald Meerschaert and Jingliang Li.
‘Borz’ passed with flying colors, finishing both fighters in the first round. Chimaev went on to have a barn burner fight with Gilbert Burns before destroying Kevin Holland at UFC 279. After this, his activity dropped immensely, and fans only saw Chimaev fight twice since October 2023.
In spite of this, Chimaev might be able to leverage a UFC title shot since submitting Robert Whittaker at UFC 308.
Khamzat Chimaev vows to take UFC title in 2025
Despite only having fought once in late 2024, Chimaev believes he has what it takes to win UFC middleweight gold in 2025. Chimaev currently assumes the No. 3 middleweight ranking behind Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, and champion Dricus Du Plessis.
Taking to Instagram on January 27, Chimaev was keen to let his fans know again that he’s coming for the belt.
“[In] 2025 I will take this belt InShAllah, and no one can stop it,” Chimaev wrote.
With Chimaev’s current trend of one fight per year, we could see him take on the winner of Du Plessis vs. Strickland at UFC 312 later in the year.
Other potential next fights for Khamzat Chimaev
Since Chimaev isn’t an active fighter, he might not be favored for a UFC title fight. Instead, he could have one more fight to prove that cancellations won’t mar the rest of his UFC tenure.
One option is the winner of Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Riyadh on February 1. The current UFC middleweight title picture is jammed with potential rematches, so Adesanya having to fight Chimaev to secure another title shot makes sense.
On the flip side, Imavov could fight Chimaev in a title eliminator. Imavov’s route to the title has been dicey, with his last five performances being contentious in some way or another.
Imavov was defeated by Strickland in 2023, then he had a no-contest against Chris Curtis due to a headbutt. He followed that up with a lackluster decision win over Roman Dolidze, then secured what some considered an early stoppage against Jared Cannonier. In September 2024, he won another sloppy decision against Brendan Allen.
None of these performances impressed fans, so it would be reasonable for him to have another fight before competing for the title.
