Yet to concede defeat at the hands of anyone, Khamzat Chimaev boasts an impeccable record of 14 victories and 0 losses. The middleweight title contender is such a force to reckon with that former champions and top contenders crumble before him. His last battle against Robert Whittaker was further proof of Chimaev’s dominance in the sport. Interestingly, in a recent statement, ‘Borz’ has put forth a challenge, offering big money to anyone who can submit him in training. What’s more? A UFC middleweight-turned-welterweight jumped at the opportunity to respond to Khamzat Chimaev’s challenge but with a twist.

Khamzat Chimaev attended the ACA 183 on Saturday in Russia to corner his friend Abubakar Vagaev, who was up against Albert Tumenov for the welterweight title. Vagaev dominated Tumenov to defeat him by way of a unanimous decision. At the press conference after the fight, the undefeated Chechen phenom added that he had yet to be submitted by anyone even in training and would give anyone a million rubles to submit him.“Anyone who submits me during a training gets a million rubles from me. It hasn’t happened in a long time. When I’m fooling around with the young guys, I give up my neck,” said Chimaev.

He further added, “But when we have a serious grappling match I offer a million rubles to anyone. Let them come to the gym and try. Who came closest to submitting me? The guy sitting next to me [Vagaev].” The quotes were shared by ESPNMMA and welterweight star, Joaquin Buckley appeared to be in a mood to take on the boogeyman of the middleweight division. “How much to knock him out.”, commented ‘New Mansa’.

It appears that Buckley wants to have some smoke against the middleweight title contender. It must be noted that Joaquin Buckley and Khamzat Chimaev have past beef against each other. Back in 2022, Buckley called out Darren Till, who was then Chimaev’s close friend. ‘New Mansa’ said, “Darren, Darren, Darren, let me get money, bro. You gotta let me get a fight, bro. It’s been a minute, man. He (Khamzat Chimaev) is at 170 right now.”

Khamzat Chimeav who was in the vicinity asked Till, “Who is that guy?” To which, amid several laughs, ‘The Gorilla’ replied that he didn’t know. As they walked away, ‘Borz’ expressed his frustration as he said, “You wanna play gangster? I’m gonna f**k you up.” Three years have passed since that incident and much has changed within the MMA realm.

Till stopped competing in UFC, Khamzat Chimaev moved up to middleweight and Buckey moved down to the welterweight. Despite their best attempts, Buckley might never fight Chimaev unless either of them moves up or down a weight class to face the other. And before ‘Borz’ decides to pursue ‘New Mansa’, he has bigger fish to fry in his own division with a likely upcoming title fight, and this endeavor was backed by none other than UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

Joe Rogan believes Khamzat Chimaev has what it takes to defeat Dricus Du Plessis

After UFC 312, Dricus Du Plessis will most likely have to embrace the challenge of facing Khamzat Chimaev soon. Amidst the chaos, a debate has emerged suggesting that Du Plessis might have the upper hand against Chimaev due to his raw power. However, Joe Rogan would beg to differ.

On The Joe Rogan Experience, the comedian and podcaster revealed that Du Plessis is currently the most dominant at middleweight but he has yet to face someone as ferocious as Khamzat Chimaev. “We haven’t seen Dricus du Plessis fight anybody that level. Khamzat is the highest level in the sport.” The middleweight champion has the mentality and an unorthodox style to overcome his opponents. Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya, and Sean Strickland succumbed to Du Plessis’ strength but what will happen when his dominance meets the sheer relentlessness of the Chechen middleweight?

While Rogan didn’t pick a clear winner, he did acknowledge the resurgence of the Chechen star at 185 lbs, “It’s hard to say. We don’t know what would happen with Khamzat. Khamzat just shoots from like 15 feet away and gets a hold of your legs so quickly. You’ve got to think that his endurance is probably going to be better at 185 than it was at 170 because of the weight cut. ’85 is really where he should have been all along.”

Khamzat Chimaev finished Robert Whittaker in the very first round to extend his winning streak to 14-0-0. Currently, ‘Borz’ has the best chance to take on ‘Stillknocks’ but one would be remiss to discount Du Plessis’ unpredictability as a fighter. What are your thoughts on the matchup? Do you think Khamzat Chimaev would beat Dricus Du Plessis if they met in the Octagon? State your opinion in the comments below.