Khamzat Chimaev and former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira were together in Chechnya this weekend. Championship Rounds posted footage of the pair on X on Saturday, Oct. 10, with a caption saying Chimaev had linked up with Oliveira. The clip spread fast across combat sports social media, partly because nobody had these two on their bingo card for a Chechnya hang, and partly because Chimaev’s name is attached to every loose thread in the middleweight division right now.
The post didn’t explain why Oliveira was there, what the two did together or whether any training was involved. Treat it as two of the sport’s bigger names sharing a room, because that’s all the footage shows.
Where Chimaev stands
The timing is what makes it interesting. Chimaev lost the middleweight title to Sean Strickland at UFC 328 in June, with Strickland reclaiming the belt. Chimaev pushed for an immediate rematch afterward. According to Strickland, the UFC went another direction and is lining up Nassourdine Imavov as the next challenger. Imavov is on a five-fight winning streak and has already fought Strickland once, back in 2023.
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That fight isn’t booked either. MMA Fighting reported that Imavov confronted Strickland in Las Vegas this week over the delay, with security stepping between them. Strickland, meanwhile, has spent days posting about his pay and floated vacating the title to chase more money outside the UFC. Mike Bohn reported that Strickland signed a new six-fight deal before facing Chimaev and earned more than $1 million for that fight. Strickland said in a clip shared by Championship Rounds that the UFC made him sign the contract to get the Chimaev fight: “Sign this or we don’t do this... They act like you have any power in this sport.”
Chimaev hasn’t been quiet through all of it. On Oct. 8, MMA Fighting posted a video of Chimaev with what it called a message for Dana White, though the outlet’s post didn’t lay out the contents. So one day he’s sending something toward the UFC president, and two days later he’s hanging out with Oliveira in his home region.
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Oliveira’s corner of it
Oliveira also popped up in the feeds this week for lighter reasons. ESPN MMA shared a UFC Brazil clip of him joking that he knew he had to lock in once he saw Brazilian soccer legend Kaka watching one of his fights live. Nothing in the material ties that clip, or the Chechnya visit, to an upcoming booking for Oliveira.
Sal’s take
If you’re reading this meetup as a sign of a fight, stop. A former lightweight champion and a former middleweight champion are 30 pounds apart in division limits and have zero business in the same cage. The more useful read is what it says about Chimaev’s calendar. He wanted the Strickland rematch, Strickland says the UFC picked Imavov instead, and the champion is posting about Paramount pay bumps while Imavov chases him through casinos. That leaves Chimaev with a lot of time and nobody across from him. Hosting guests in Chechnya is what a guy does when he’s waiting on a phone call. I’d lay real money that Chimaev’s next fight gets decided by whatever Strickland does with his contract, and I’d give nothing for the idea that a photo with Oliveira moves that needle at all.
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