Khamzat Chimaev’s latest victory at UFC 319 was quite impressive and solidified his status as one of the most dangerous fighters in the UFC. He improved his record to 15-0 with all wins except the one against Dricus de Plessis, via the abbreviated route with six submissions.
In that fight against de Plessis, the defending middleweight champion, Chimaev dominated with superior grappling, landing multiple takedowns and controlling the ground game for majority of the fight, so much so that some netizens were making memes out of the number of takedowns Chimaev attempted. He also made the UFC record of most strikes landed in a fight (529).
After years of a strange hybrid of hype and health setbacks, Chimaev finally marks a major milestone in his career and one intriguing proposal post-victory was a potential superfight against UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev of Dagestan.
ISSUES. The intriguing matchup is clearly borne out of a background of deep-rooted ethnic, cultural, and political rivalries between Chechens and Dagestanis, two neighboring Muslim-majority ethnic groups in Russia’s Northern region.
Historically, amidst conflicts and border disputes —Dagestan largely sided with Russia against Chechen rebels. Consequently, these were amplified in MMA where both groups are known for producing top-level fighters.
INCIDENTS. These issues have been exacerbated by some incidents. Chimaev defeated Dagestani Sambo world champion Ikram Aliskerov, and another one in 2024 where Chimaev was reportedly “mauled” in training by a Dagestani Olympic wrestler.
It almost came to a head at UFC 280 where Chimaev got into a scuffle with Abubakar Nurmagomedov (Khabib’s cousin and a Dagestani fighter) right in front of Khabib and his entire team but the Dagestanis did nothing in response.
On occasion, Chimaev has made online jabs at Khabib and his team, often aligning himself with critics of Dagestani’s dominance in UFC.
SUPERFIGHT. If the fight against Makhachev materializes, it will indeed be one of the greatest showdowns in recent history but Islam has reportedly shown reluctance to fight Chimaev citing these cultural tensions.
Another factor is the weight disparity between these two as it would be difficult seeing either of these give way to a catchweight and give up an inherent advantage in competing at their respective weight divisions where they are both comfortable.
Still, this possiblity whets the appetite of fight game fanatics since there is a seeming narrative about Dagestanis often viewed as disciplined and team-oriented, while Chimaev represents Chechen aggression as raw and brutal and more individualistic. In the end, if this fight pushes through, its a win for the fans.
PAUL-DAVIS. Speaking of weight disparity, Jake Paul has reportedly got himself a fight against lightweight champion Gervonta Davis in November.
Why this is happening is truly perplexing, but I guess this is the new normal now, in a world where Jake Paul has now become a marketable big name in professional boxing.
VERBATIM. “Gervonta Davis is an angry little elf who has been disrespecting my name for too long. “
-Jake Paul (www.espn.com)
LAST ROUND. It’s on one of my closest friends, Dr. Gerry Ypil who recently celebrated his birthday. Cheers!