Khamzat Chimaev faces brutal accusation from former UFC champion: "He didn't want to play"

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has accused Khamzat Chimaev of ducking him after he claimed the promotion was working to book a fight between the pair for his comeback bout in 2022.

Following an unsuccessful stint at light heavyweight where he suffered a knockout loss to Jan Blachowicz in 2019, Rockhold opted to take a hiatus from MMA. He then returned to the middleweight division three years later, facing Paulo Costa at UFC 278.

The pair went to war in a brutal contest, going the distance in a bout that saw both men bloodied and beaten. While Costa ultimately had his hand raised via unanimous decision, both fighters were each awarded a Fight of the Night bonus for their efforts.

According to Luke Rockhold, however, 'Borrachinha' wasn't his or the UFC's first choice of opponent. In a recent interview with Submission Radio, the former middleweight champ accused Khamzat Chimaev of turning down a fight against him, after he claimed he was originally set to face 'Borz' instead of the Brazilian in 2022.

Rockhold said:

"Khamzat turned down a fight with me. When I was supposed to come back, my first fight back [against Paulo Costa], they tried to book that fight. He [Chimaev] didn't want to play. I said yes [to the fight], right before I faced him. It didn't happen."

Catch Rockhold's comments here (16:40):

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Khamzat Chimaev called out by rising UFC middleweight contender

After appearing to spend a number of years as the UFC's 'boogeyman', Khamzat Chimaev now has a number of contenders ready to call him out to test their skills against him in the octagon. Most recently, Reinier de Ridder has put his name into the mix and issued a challenge to Chimaev, following his own victory over Kevin Holland at UFC 311.

The Dutchman, who spoke to MMA Junkie, believes he has the wrestling capability to not only neutralize Chimaev's but also defeat him. He said:

"If I'm the only one bringing up his [Chimaev] name up, I might be the only one to get the fight [against him]. What's he gonna do? Take me down? That'd be amazing right? I'd be interested to see his strategy for the fight. He boxes pretty well and his striking is not that bad either... But I see myself taking him down and down again and getting on top."

Check out Reinier de Ridder's comments on Khamzat Chimaev here (8:20):