Who is Khamzat Chimaev fighting next in the UFC?

Following his victory over Kevin Holland at UFC 279, many have been wondering what's next for Khamzat Chimaev. While there has been no official announcement regarding his next fight, 'Borz' has exciting options at both 170 and 185-pounds.

Despite being the No.3-ranked welterweight in the UFC, Chimaev may be forced to move up to middleweight. This is due to him missing weight by 7.5 pounds ahead of his fight at UFC 279.

Chimaev missed weight by a significant margin which led to the entire card being reshuffled. This is one of the reasons UFC President Dana White would like to see 'Borz' compete at middleweight. During the UFC 279 post-fight press conference, White said:

“It’s a problem. That’s a problem that he missed weight. I don’t know. We’ve got to look at it and figure it out. What makes sense is for him to fight at [185 pounds], so we’ll see. It is what it is. It happened. We’ll go back this week and come up with a plan and probably have him fight at [185 ]."

Check out what Dana White comments on Chimaev's weight cut below:

At 185 pounds, Chimaev has a lot of interesting options available to him. While the likes of Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vettori remain available, the Russian-born Swedish fighter seems to have bad blood with Paulo Costa.

Check out Chimaev and Costa's altercation below:

The two fighters recently got into an altercation at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas which led to Costa taking multiple jibes at Khamzat Chimaev. Despite nothing being official yet, a fight between 'Borz' and Costa would be something fans would tune in to watch.

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Who has Khamzat Chimaev fought thus far in the UFC?

Khamzat Chimaev made his octagon debut in 2020. Since then, 'Borz' has gone on to dominate almost everyone he faced. On his debut, Chimaev faced Welsh middleweight fighter John Phillips, whom he dominated and submitted in round two.

While many appreciated Chimaev's performance, the Russian-born Swede made a quick turnaround as he faced Rhys McKee at welterweight ten days later. The bout proved to be another easy night for Chimaev as he won the bout via TKO in round one.

In his third fight in the promotion, Khamzat Chimaev returned to middleweight and faced Gerald Meerschaert. While many believed Meerschaert would prove to be tough competition, Chimaev won the bout with ease as he knocked out 'GM3' with a single punch in round one.

With success coming his way, Khamzat Chimaev suffered turbulent times as he suffered through COVID-19 which stalled his career for a while. However, 'Borz' made a victorious return at UFC 272 when he submitted Li Jingliang.

Chimaev's next outing in the cage came against Gilbert Burns. The Brazilian proved to be a tough competitor for Khamzat Chimaev, and after a back-and-forth, 'Borz' walked out with a unanimous decision victory.

Scheduled to face Nate Diaz in the main event at UFC 279, Chimaev had to be pulled out of the bout as he missed weight. However, 'Borz' competed in the co-main event against Kevin Holland and submitted him in the very first round.