For a minute, it felt simple. Nassourdine Imavov was on a five-fight winning streak, Khamzat Chimaev needed his first challenger at middleweight, and the UFC seemed to be putting the pieces together. But it seems they took too long, and we now have a mess on our hands.

Sean Strickland‘s huge win in Houston provided new drama to an already congested title race. So, why all this delay and the confusion? Well, according to Nassourdine Imavov, the delay has less to do with competition and more to do with circumstance.

Nassourdine Imavov claims Khamzat Chimaev backed out of title fights

“One of the last discussions I had was with Hunter Campbell and Mick Maynard in Doha,” Nassourdine Imavov told MMA Fighting. “They told me they wanted to schedule the fight against Khamzat for December, then for February.

“But then Khamzat got injured, and they were thinking about when they can put this fight.”

That’s when the momentum stopped. There was no major follow-up news or contract getting signed. Just discussions that never became ink on paper. But there is a positive update now, as ‘The Sniper’ claims that the topic resurfaced again.

“We spoke with Mick Maynard,” he added. “And he was trying to see the fight against Khamzat, but we don’t have final approval.”

It’s the kind of limbo that can quietly shift a division. When a champion is injured, and timelines blur, contenders begin to circle more loudly. Nassourdine Imavov, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be bothered by the noise outside, especially the possibility that Sean Strickland would leapfrog him.

The UFC announced Strickland vs. Anthony Hernandez for Houston in December. This was the perfect time to make Imavov vs. Chimaev, so that the Houston fight night winner could fight the title fight winner.

Instead, they are now stuck with Strickland, Imavov, and possibly even Dricus Du Plessis in the title picture. As per the update we received in November, Chimaev had a foot surgery and will be out during Ramadan. The earliest he could be back was reported as April 2026.

‘The Sniper’ has already stated that he sees the Sean Strickland vs. Khamzat Chimaev fantasy as unnecessary—more drama than threat. In his mind, the real fight is the one that was already being built behind the scenes.

He even presented it as an option for fans. Do they want the trash talk and spectacle? Or something more explosive when the cage door closes? Imavov does not promise fireworks on the mic. He’s offering something else entirely: a collision.

“It will be huge, him against me. No one wants to lose, and I’m not this guy,” he told MMA Fighting. “So the competition will be tough, and I’m here to bring a big challenge.

“So that’s my question. What do you guys want? To see someone speaking a lot, or a fight that you will remember for ages? That’s it.”

Until ‘Borz’ is healthy, though, it’s all paused. And in a division that moves fast, waiting can be its own fight. However, that move has also given him his own sense of clarity, as Nassourdine Imavov is willing to land himself a fight that won’t even have a belt at stake. The catch: It’ll have to be against Sean Strickland.

‘The Sniper’ picks Sean Strickland rematch over Chimaev title fight

With Khamzat Chimaev sidelined for now, Nassourdine Imavov isn’t sitting around. ‘The Sniper’ is considering the other name in the mix, Sean Strickland. The man who handed him his last loss in 2023, on short notice and at 205 pounds. If the title fight is delayed, Imavov will settle for revenge.

“If the UFC call me tomorrow, with the hate I have in my heart, of course it will be Sean Strickland, and then I can fight Khamzat or whatever,” Imavov told MMA Fighting. “But what I have in my heart right now is to erase this defeat, this loss I had a few years ago, and beat this guy because I hate him.

“I don’t like the way he speaks. I don’t like the way he thinks. I don’t like the way he speaks about my people.”

That is as clear as it gets for a fighter who rarely leans into his emotions in public. If the UFC presented him with two options—’Borz’ for the belt or Sean Strickland for revenge—Nassourdine Imavov feels the decision would be simple. The belt can wait. Settling that score cannot.