Khamzat Chimaev is trying to get back into the cage before the end of the year.
In May, Chimaev suffered the first loss of his MMA career, losing a split decision to Sean Strickland in their title fight at UFC 328. Following the loss, Chimaev quickly started angling for a rematch with Strickland, but in recent weeks, “Borz” stopped campaigning for that matchup, and now believes that Nassourdine Imavov will get the next shot at Strickland.
“So far, they haven’t called me, nothing like that yet,” Chimaev told Adam Zubayrev. “I asked them. I want to fight in Abu Dhabi. They said, I’m not asking for a title fight. I knew Strickland wasn’t coming here. I said, ‘I don’t want to wait one or two years for him to recover. As soon as I said that, they gave Imavov a fight.
“I don’t know how official it is, but they’re giving him a fight. If they gave it to him, then they gave it to him. I said, ‘Give me someone to fight. Let me make some money and get my belt back as soon as possible.’”
But despite his eagerness to fight, even if it’s not for a title, Chimaev is still without an opponent, and the former middleweight champion says that if he doesn’t get booked for a fight before the end of the year, he’s going to take some time off to recover.
“As for the fight, I’m trying to get one,” Chimaev said. “I was trying to get one in October, and now I’m trying for December. If nothing happens in December, I think I’ll take a little break. I have a lot of injuries. I need to get them treated. I’ve been putting off my surgeries, putting them off, putting them off, and I go into every fight with some kind of problem.
“I don’t really like talking about my problems or injuries. People already know that I get sick often. That’s just how it is with me. I don’t have half my thyroid gland. I’ve had seven times under anesthesia, six surgeries, and a lot of injuries. And I still do.”
And as for the rumored title fight between Strickland and Imavov? Chimaev thinks Imavov is in a good position to get his revenge on Strickland.
“It’s a tough fight. I hope that since their fight a couple of years ago, Imavov has improved his striking and will out-strike him,” Chimaev said. “He’s a very tough guy. If he outlasts Imavov, it’s going to be tough. If Imavov is feeling good cardio-wise, technically I think Imavov is much better than him. All fighters are better than him.
“I replayed the fight in my head a thousand times. Before the fight, I couldn’t even imagine him beating me.”
