Former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor sent a message to Khamzat Chimaev after his UFC 319 victory.
Khamzat Chimaev completed his dominant run in the UFC Octagon with a stunning performance over Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319. In a five-round clinic, Chimaev defeated Du Plessis by unanimous decision, including one 10-8 round on all three judges’ scorecards.
On his rise to the UFC title, Chimaev has made his fair share of enemies along the way. He’s started feuds with the likes of Paulo Costa and others and has backed up his ferocious style with a fearless persona outside of the Octagon.
After his title win at UFC 319, Chimaev heard from a familiar foe on social media.
- UFC 319 RESULTS: UFC 319 Dricus Du Plessis vs Khamzat Chimaev LIVE: Stream info, results, videos and more from middleweight title clash
Conor McGregor sends classy message to Khamzat Chimaev after dominant title win
In the lead-up to UFC 319, Chimaev put himself in rarefied air when he surpassed 10 million social media followers on his Instagram account, following in the footsteps of UFC superstars Conor McGregor and Ilia Topuria. Topuria most recently knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317, and McGregor hasn’t fought since injuring his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
As Chimaev rose in the UFC welterweight division before making the full-time move to middleweight, he repeatedly called out McGregor for a fight. Tensions between Chimaev and McGregor quickly escalated online, with McGregor mocking Chimaev’s ‘rat lip’ in reference to a scar on the newly-minted middleweight champ’s mouth.
Despite their difficult past, McGregor put his long-standing feud with Chimaev aside to congratulate the new UFC middleweight titleholder on his performance.
In a recent post to X, McGregor reacted to Chimaev’s UFC title victory.
“Chechnya’s first UFC Champion! Congrats!” McGregor posted.
McGregor’s two-time rival, Nate Diaz, took a different approach in his reaction to Chimaev’s win at UFC 319. Diaz and Chimaev were supposed to headline UFC 279 before Chimaev’s botched weight cut to welterweight scrapped the fight in the hours leading up to the event.
Meanwhile, McGregor could be less than a year away from returning to the Octagon after confirming his intentions to end his long hiatus.
Conor McGregor gets endorsement from UFC CEO Dana White to headline card at The White House
After U.S. President Donald Trump announced the UFC’s planned event at The White House next year, McGregor and Jon Jones were among the first fighters to put their names in the hat to headline the card. White recently expressed profound hesitancy in granting Jones the headlining spot after some of the former heavyweight champ’s transgressions outside of the Octagon.
McGregor was supposed to headline UFC 303 last year against Michael Chandler before withdrawing due to injury. He has lost three of his last four fights overall and hasn’t won in the cage since knocking out Donald Cerrone at UFC 246.
As for what’s next for Chimaev, he could potentially return to the Octagon at UFC 321 at Abu Dhabi, after White entertained the possibility during the UFC 319 post-fight press conference. Chimaev could potentially face Anthony Hernandez or Reinier de Ridder after both middleweights recently earned impressive victories.