UFC 317 could be Khamzat Chimaev's breakout into PPV superstardom, says analyst in eye-opening breakdown

Khamzat Chimaev is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars that the UFC has today. A prominent analyst in the sport thinks that if he gets booked for UFC 317, it could be a massive catalyst to bolster the unbeaten contender's career.

While breaking down some of the latest big news items on Submission Radio, Luke Thomas was asked about what he would do if he was a UFC higher up who had to decide if you sit on a Khamzat Chimaev vs. Dricus du Plessis title fight or if you make the move to book Chimaev for UFC 317 against another opponent.

When expressing that he thinks the UFC should cash in on Chimaev right now and for a very specific reason, Thomas said:

"One, he's missed some time because of obviously injury and illness and a number of other factors. I don't think that's really helped him. The other part too is he can get into the United States now and that's the majority of your pay-per-view buying public... He allegedly can get into the United States now or at least he should be able to by this point."

"If you're the UFC anyway, it's important to get that guy in front of American audiences to I think, again, build somebody who speaks English, who has got a crazy dynamic game, that the fans are seemingly energized about. That's something you've not been able to do for just a little while anyway. Yeah, I think you pull that trigger on him."

Check out Like Thomas' thoughts on the Khamzat Chimaev UFC 317 situation below (24:00):

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Khamzat Chimaev vs. Dricus du Plessis may still be on the table according to UFC champ

With contenders like Caio Borralho indicating a keenness to fight 'Borz', Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus du Plessis may not be a completly written off notion as the UFC middleweight champion has recently come out to clarify some things. There were rumblings that du Plessis had reportedly suffered an injury which supposedly scrapped a planned title bout between du Plessis and Chimaev for UFC 317.

Du Plessis took to Instagram to offer up his side of things regarding the rumors surrounding the situation with his fight with the 30-year-old contender, 'Borz'. In the caption of that Instagram post, du Plessis quipped:

"Okey so everyone had their opinions and rumours and stories about a shin break and injuries etc. I found it all very entertaining, unfortunately none of it is true myself and @ufc already discussed a fight date and opponent."

"The June fight was never signed I did not pull out of any fight, I am the champion I know when I fight you as a contender just show up when we tell you to. Fight announcement coming soon stay tuned."