Khamzat Chimaev continues to be one of the most talked about athletes in the UFC and following UFC Saudi Arabia on Saturday, that has remained the same.
Throughout the 32-year history of the UFC, there has never been a quicker rise to superstardom than Khamzat Chimaev‘s.
When he emerged in the promotion in 2020, the Chechen couldn’t help but stay active and even fought twice in ten days, scoring two hellacious knockouts.
Since then, ‘Borz’ has unfortunately suffered from some inactivity as he has struggled to attain a visa to fight in the United States.
Despite that, the 30-year-old has continued to impress the masses and this past October he crushed Robert Whittaker’s jaw at UFC 308, scoring the biggest win of his career thus far.
Dana White provides a positive update on Chimaev fighting in America
With the middleweight having struggled to attain a visa for America, he has been left only being able to fight in the Middle East when the promotion holds events in Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi.
Despite that, Chimaev recently stated his goal for 2025, declaring that he wants to finally win the 185lb title after years of being touted to do so.
Middleweight champion, Dricus Du Plessis is set to defend his title against Sean Strickland at UFC 312 on February 8.
The fight booking came as quite a surprise considering Chimaev’s continuous success and the fact Strickland has only picked up one win since his title loss to ‘Stillknocks’ last January.
However, Strickland slammed Chimaev’s win over Whittaker, labeling the former champion ‘a can’ as he defended the promotion’s decision to award him a title shot.
Following the UFC Saudi Arabia main event this Saturday which saw Nassourdine Imavov score a shocking second-round KO over Israel Adesanya, ‘The Russian Sniper’ called for the next title shot, hoping to leapfrog Chimaev.
Despite that, Dana White provided a positive update on ‘Borz’ during the post-fight press conference, further hinting that the Chechen will fight the winner of Du Plessis vs Strickland.
“Don’t listen to any of that bullsh*t,” White responded to a question regarding Chimaev struggling to enter the USA.
“He’ll get in the United States. I’m very confident that we can get him into the country,” the UFC boss continued.
Chimaev’s chances of attaining a U.S. visa seemingly increased when Donald Trump was re-elected as the President, considering his ties with the UFC and White.
Khamzat Chimaev reacts to Nassourdine Imavov’s win over Adesanya
Chimaev has constantly been linked to a potential fight against ‘The Last Stylebender’, however, following Adesanya’s loss to Imavov, it is unlikely that fight will ever come to fruition.
With the fight having a big bearing on his division, Chimaev was watching on with keen eyes and reacted to Imavov’s incredible second-round KO.
If Chimaev does in fact gain entry into the United States for his next fight, a future title fight between the Chechen and ‘The Russian Sniper’ could well be a possibility.