Khamzat Chimaev has to make a statement this weekend.
Undefeated UFC middleweight Khamzat Chimaev returns to the octagon on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 308: Topuria vs. Holloway. Undoubtedly the biggest fight of his career, Chimaev (13-0) will square off with former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker.
After an underwhelming few years, Chimaev must secure an emphatic victory over Whittaker to re-establish his reputation as the boogeyman of the division.
Chimaev was once the scariest fighter in the division
Hailing from Chechnya, Russia, Chimaev made his UFC debut in 2020 and instantly put the rest of the promotion on notice. After submitting John Phillips in his first fight on Fight Island, ‘Borz’ urged UFC President Dana White to let him fight the very next week.
White obliged and Chimaev stepped back into the octagon after just ten days — this time at a different weight class. There, he emphatically knocked out Rhys McKee in the first round.
The Russian’s unmatched performance caught the eye of the UFC President, with White referring to him as an “absolute freak of nature.”
After just two months, Chimaev was back in the octagon to face Gerald Meerschaert. It only took one punch for him to knock his opponent out in 17 seconds, which tied for the third-fastest knockout in middleweight history.
Through his first three fights, Chimaev was untouchable, dominant, and terrifying. He posed an imminent threat to the division and it seemed inevitable that he was coming for the belt.
Inactivity has derailed Chimaev’s hype train
In the following years, Chimaev retained his undefeated record but lost the momentum from his meteoric rise. Where he once fought three times in two months, the Russian has fought just four times since 2021.
The fighter was scheduled to fight future welterweight champion Leon Edwards in December 2020 but was forced to pull out due to complications with COVID-19. Lingering symptoms and eventual lung complications left Chimaev sidelined for 13 months. During the layoff, he even contemplated retirement.
Borz briefly returned to regularly scheduled activity with three impressive victories from October 2021 through September 2022 but then took another lengthy hiatus from the promotion. The UFC President cited “personal” problems as the reason for Chimaev’s absence during the period.
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Chimaev once again returned after a year of absence, besting former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman via majority decision in October 2023. He was originally slated to fight Whittaker this summer but violent illness once again kept him out of the octagon.
Despite winning all of his fights, Chimaev’s inactivity has kept him from making a serious push at the belt. Four years after winning three fights in 66 days, the 30-year-old sits at #13 on the middleweight rankings.
Chimaev has to make a statement
Chimaev has the chance to bounce back this weekend against the No. 3 middleweight contender in Whittaker. However, he needs to win decisively if he wants the division to fear him again.
While he may have defeated Usman last year, it was an incredibly close fight that could have gone either way. In fact, it almost did with one of the three judges scoring the contest a draw. Especially considering that Usman stepped in on short notice, Chimaev’s narrow victory proved the worst thing it could — he was human.
If Chimaev wants to re-establish himself as the middleweight monster that he once was, he needs to prove that he can still dominate against top competition. A decision will not cut it. Chimaev must finish Whittaker or else he’s at risk of fading into the realm of “what-ifs.”
