Are Khamzat Chimaev vs Caio Borralho and Alexandre Pantoja vs Kai Kara-France title fights worthy of International Fight Week? Ariel Helwani weighs in

Ariel Helwani has discussed whether Khamzat Chimaev vs. Caio Borralho and Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France title fights will live up to the anticipation, satisfy UFC fans, and are deserving of International Fight Week.

Chimaev has not entered the octagon since last October when he defeated Robert Whittaker via first-round submission at UFC 308. The No.3-ranked UFC middleweight appeared set to receive the first title fight of his UFC career against du Plessis. However, the UFC middleweight kingpin is now reportedly sidelined because of an injury.

Borralho has called out Chimaev for an interim title fight. However, 'Borz' does not find a bout with 'The Natural' to be exciting, having previously trained with Borralho.

Helwani recently weighed in on the aforementioned matchup, along with a flyweight title bout between Pantoja and Kara-France, serving as the potential headliners for the UFC 317 card. The MMA journalist said:

"Is a Caio Borralho versus Khamzat Chimaev interim title fight, perhaps coupled with a Alex Pantoja versus Kai Kara-France flyweight fight, is that International Fight Week worthy?... Here's the thing, this is International Fight Weekend and there was a time, remember, there was like a three, maybe four, year stretch where it felt like International Fight Week was cursed?"

He added:

"Where the main events were always falling through and the fights didn't feel so big... Last year looked great on paper, but ended up being somewhat of a mess, but then it was salvaged by the guy - I feel like we need something else. I don't have the intel right now to suggest that there's a rabbit or not, but I feel like they recognize this, as well."

Check out Ariel Helwani's comments below:

Helwani questioned if the UFC brand has gotten to a point where it can get away with the rumored interim title bout headlining the card. While fans have clamored for a heavyweight unification title bout between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall or a lightweight title bout between Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria, the promotion could look to stack the card elsewhere if they lack star power in the main and co-main event.

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Khamzat Chimaev takes shot at Dricus du Plessis following reports of injury

Khamzat Chimaev's chance to fight for a belt has seemingly been delayed as Dricus du Plessis reportedly suffered an injury. Following reports that 'Stillknocks' will not be ready to fight at International Fight Week, Chimaev tweeted:

"This guy biggest bulls**t 🤦🏻‍♂️"

Du Plessis responded by sharing a screenshot of both fighters' Tapology pages and writing:

"Let’s take a look at the last +-2.5years and tell me who’s bulls**t 👌🏻"

Check out Khamzat Chimaev's tweet and Dricus du Plessis' response below: