UFC Saudi Arabia: Khamzat Chimaev's return, middleweight contention, and everything else we know about June 22 card after Dana White's announcement

UFC is heading to Saudi Arabia for the first time. CEO Dana White confirmed the event's whereabouts and also revealed Khamzat Chimaev's return to action. In a recent social media post, he announced a stacked fight card for the event scheduled for June 22.

The announced event features a massive middleweight clash with major title implications. Former middleweight champion Rober Whittaker will return to action after his hard-fought win over Paulo Costa to face the undefeated phenom Khamzat Chimaev.

Chimaev solidified his status as a superstar with a victory over the former welterweight king Kamaru Usman at UFC 294.

This fight will be a crucial test for both fighters as they jockey for position in a middleweight division now ruled by Dricus du Plessis.

The co-main event pits heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich against resurgent contender Alexander Volkov. Pavlovich is fresh off a title fight loss to Tom Aspinall, while Volkov is riding a three-fight winning streak, all finishes, and looks to solidify his claim for a heavyweight title shot.

The rest of the card also features several interesting fights. Welterweight veterans Kelvin Gastelum and Daniel Rodriguez. collide in a must-win fight for both. Light heavyweight prospect Shara Magomedov aims to extend his unbeaten record against Ihor Potieria. Another light heavyweight fight includes a matchup between Johnny Walker and Volkan Oezdemir.

---

Khamzat Chimaev blasts Kamaru Usman for downplaying UFC 294 fight

Khamzat Chimaev secured a majority decision victory last October at UFC 294 in a thrilling back-and-forth contest with Kamaru Usman. However, on a recent episode of Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' expressed disappointment with the fight:

"You get those types of fights and those positions to where you build something in your mind, in your head. Especially now in this machine of UFC and MMA, you build them up in your head. Then you get in there, and you go, 'That wasn't special'. There is nothing different that I haven't seen."

Check out Usman's comments below (9:55):

This clearly did not sit well with the 'Borz' as he wasted no time responding on social media. Chimaev fired back at Usman in a series of posts, writing:

"I never choose my opponents, only cowards choose their opponents."

Check out Khamzat Chimaev's posts below: