Khamzat Chimaev’s Toughest Rival Disagrees With UFC Legend Over Champ’s First Title Defence in 2026

Khamzat Chimaev absolutely dominated Dricus du Plessis and ended up winning the middleweight title after setting a control time record of 21 minutes and 40 seconds. There is no question about a rematch since the UFC 319 main event wasn’t a close contest by any means. So, as the Chechen-born star seems like he’s going to return in 2026, who should he fight next? Well, that appeared to be a hot topic among a couple of former UFC champions, who had differing opinions on this matter.

In the past few months, a few contenders have found themselves entering the title conversation, especially Nassourdine Imavov, who impressed Islam Makhachev with his UFC Paris win. The Russian-born Frenchman scored massive wins over Jared Cannonier and Israel Adesanya, and then, recently, he defeated the highly touted Caio Borralho, leading Kamaru Usman to believe that he should be next in line against Khamzat Chimaev. On an episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, he asserted, “Who right now in that middleweight division you would say deserves a title shot more than Nassourdine Imavov?”But that’s when a disagreement took shape.

Apparently, Kamaru Usman‘s co-host, Henry Cejudo, is not sold on the fact that Nassourdine Imavov is in the UFC’s eyes. Instead, ‘Triple C’ believes that Dana White and Co. could be keeping their eyes locked on the fight between Reinier de Ridder and Anthony Hernandez. The duo is set to collide in October, which, for Cejudo, could make a case for a title eliminator bout.

“You’re right, but remember what we say all the time. The UFC will always have something up their sleeve. RDR or the winner of RDR and [Anthony Hernandez]. And these guys, they put on a performance where he can slide in,” said Henry Cejudo. When Kamaru Usman responded by saying, “You’re wrong. No. Not happening,” it was clear that the two UFC legends were not on the same page. However, ‘Triple C’ highlighted the fact that the UFC doesn’t always depend on merit, but on exciting performances.

“I 100 percent agree with you for what he’s [Imavov] done. But this isn’t the Olympics, Kamaru. What I’m saying is you can easily get skipped from a good performance from RDR or the Fluff dog,” Henry Cejudo added.

While some people are discussing the next title contender for Khamzat Chimaev, others have been talking about a superfight against Islam Makhachev. In fact, the former lightweight champion and current welterweight title contender also spoke about it and shared a bit of a diplomatic statement.

Could Khamzat Chimaev end up facing Islam Makhachev?

Russia has produced some excellent and legendary MMA fighters, but in the UFC, it’s Dagestan’s Islam Makhachev and Chechnya’s Khamzat Chimaev. But some fans may wonder what it would look like if a Dagestan fighter takes on a Chechen fighter. And it seems like we could get those answers because Makhachev recently mentioned that a fight against Chimaev may not be out of the question.

However, the former lightweight champion claims that he intends to keep the harmony between the people of his republic and the people of Chechnya. And hence, he declined to say anything else other than saying that he’s going to think about it after the fight against Jack Della Maddalena. “I’m answering this question here. I don’t want to open the door to any kind of conflict between our people… Well, we will see. I have a tough fight ahead,” Islam Makhachev stated in an interview last month.

Khamzat Chimaev has never been opposed to fighting any opponent, so he may not be worried about his next opponent. But looking at the current 185lbs division, who do you think has an edge over others when it comes to landing a title shot? Drop your comments below.