Khamzat Chimaev has revealed what Cristiano Ronaldo said when he invited the soccer superstar to his fight via direct message.
While he may be part of the UFC family for less than two years, Chimaev is already making some serious waves at both welterweight and middleweight. His 4-0 record doesn't even begin to tell the tale of his dominance inside the octagon. The majority of his opponents have barely been able to lay a glove on him.
He's still got some way to go before title contention can be discussed. However, if he keeps up this current surge of momentum, a shot at the belt before the end of 2022 isn't out of the question.
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Cristiano Ronaldo is a known fan of mixed martial arts and a close friend of Khabib Nurmagomedov. Chimaev recently invited Ronaldo to watch him in action, and this is how the conversation went down, according to the Chechen-born Swede:
“He has a game that’s why he said he could not come. But he’s going to watch my fight.”
“When [Ronaldo] started following me, I wrote to him, he’s the champ. Then he wrote ‘SMESH EVERYBODY’. 100% brother. Then I invited him to my fight. I’m not a big fan of football, but this guy is big. One of the best guys in the world in football. He’s a nice guy.”
What's next for Khamzat Chimaev?
The expectation is that Khamzat Chimaev will fight Gilbert Burns, but the date and event are yet to be officially announced by the UFC. This fight would represent a big step up in competition for Chimaev, who hasn't taken on anyone inside the top 10 up to this point.
'Borz' has made it known that he wants to go after multiple titles, and middleweight will likely be next if he can seize control of the 170-pound division. With that being said, he'd probably need a pretty impressive win over Burns to get a shot at Kamaru Usman.
For now, all Khamzat Chimaev can do is take things one step at a time.