Khamzat Chimaev next fight: Dana White shares latest update on ‘Borz’s’ return to the octagon

UFC president Dana White has shed light on the promotion's rising star Khamzat Chimaev's absence from the octagon.

White made an appearance at the UFC vegas 73 post-fight press conference where he discussed the issue of the Chechen-born Swede's next fight.

On multiple occasions, Chimaev has challenged former UFC champion Kamaru Usman for a fight on social media. After his loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 288, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' has also expressed interest in locking horns with 'Borz'.

But White does not seem too keen on the idea as Usman suggested for the fight to take place at catchweight.

"I think that it's a fight that Usman wants. That's no secret. Usman literally came to the office to lobby for that fight... I don't do catchweights. Don't do it. You know how Khamzat is? If you talk sh** to Khamzat, Khamzat's gonna go right at it with you and doesn't care who he fights and all that stuff. So, I don't know. Obviously, we've been making a lot of announcements lately. We haven't made that announcement yet because we don't have a fight done yet. But we're working on stuff for Khamzat."

Check out the UFC president's comments from the 14:54 mark below:

The possibility of Usman vs. Chimaev happening at welterweight sounds bleak as the latter faced weight issues in his last UFC appearance, when he missed weight by 7.5 pounds.

Considering White's aversion to making a catchweight bout, middleweight seems to be the only option to set up a fight between Usman and Chimaev.

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When was Khamzat Chimaev's last fight in the UFC?

Khamzat Chimaev's last fight caused a lot of controversy for the UFC. 'Borz' was scheduled to headline UFC 279 in September 2022 in a five-round scrap against Nate Diaz. During fight week for UFC 279, a brawl broke out between the two main-eventers' teams, resulting in the cancellation of the pre-fight press conference.

Khamzat Chimaev then missed weight by coming in at 178.5 pounds, resulting in the scrap falling through. The Chechen-born Swede was then matched up against Kevin Hollannd for a catchweight fight at 180 pounds for the same event.

Chimaev ran through Holland and submitted him in the opening minutes of the fight, extending his undefeated record to 12-0.