This coming Saturday, Khamzat Chimaev will fight in the United States for the first time since 2022 when he fought against Kevin Holland at UFC 279.
The Chechen takes on Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title in Chicago, in the UFC 319 main event which has been over a year in the making.
Despite ‘Stillknocks’ having admitted that he wanted to fight Chimaev following his title defense over Israel Adesanya at UFC 305, visa issues caused a delay to the fight.
Chimaev explains why he isn’t interested in fighting in America
With his fight having been booked to take place in Chicago, it seemed like a big breakthrough in his career considering his inactivity over the past few years.
Despite having been granted a visa, ‘Borz’ recently claimed that he is unlikely to fight on the upcoming White House card, and sent a message to Donald Trump.
However, the Chechen may not be interested in fighting on the event anyway as in a recent interview with Main Event TV, Chimaev explained why he isn’t really interested in fighting in America.
“I don’t know (how active I want to be), whatever they give I am open for that. I was always – when I’m healthy, I always win in fights, so it wasn’t my fault I didn’t fight often, now we have the visa, we’re here.
“After that, I hope we get in Abu Dhabi as well, defend the belt. No (I don’t want to fight in America more), I wanna fight in UAE, bro. You make more money there, that’s my country, I represent that country, the best country in the world so I’m always happy to fight there,” Chimaev continued.
What Chimaev is touching on is the fact that fighters get taxed far less when they fight in the United Arab Emirates than they do when they fight in the United States.
Chimaev reveals what he’ll spend UFC 319 purse on
Although he may not be making as much this weekend as he would if the fight was in the UAE, Chimaev will still likely pick up a pretty purse.
And with that, he has already revealed what he will spend his purse on, explaining that he will give most of it back to his family as he has no interest in buying flashy things.