Khamzat Chimaev wants Dana White on the phone. The former UFC middleweight champion posted to X on Thursday morning, tagging the UFC CEO with a single phone emoji. There was no caption, no context and, as of this writing, no follow-up from either side.
Fight news by emoji is my least favorite genre in this business. At least this one comes with a paper trail.
On Monday, Chimaev went straight at Sean Strickland, offering him a lemon emoji (fight slang for $1 million) to settle things, inside the UFC or out. “Striciland I will pay you 1 🍋 Send me location and let’s fight don’t care outside inside the cage 🦾” he wrote on X. The spelling is his. Strickland hadn’t answered publicly when MMA Fighting reported the offer.
View post on X
The obsession has a clear source. Strickland beat Chimaev by split decision in the UFC 328 main event on May 9 at the Prudential Center in Newark, taking the middleweight title and handing him the first loss of his career. Chimaev had won the belt from Dricus du Plessis. He’s been angling for a rematch ever since. The two buried their beef after the fight, then started taking shots at each other in the media again anyway, which is about the most middleweight thing imaginable.
The obstacle is Nassourdine Imavov. Nothing is official, but everything points to Imavov getting Strickland’s first title defense. Strickland beat him by unanimous decision in a short-notice fight at 205 pounds in 2023. Imavov has won five straight since, including a knockout of former champ Israel Adesanya, and he’s the top contender at 185 by any honest measure.
Du Plessis knows Strickland better than almost anyone, with two wins over him across 50 combined minutes in a pair of title fights. On Fight Forecast, he broke down how Strickland flipped the Chimaev fight once the takedowns stopped working. “And when he started stopping Khamzat’s takedowns, Khamzat got tired, and he got forced to fight Strickland’s fight. And Strickland wins that every single time,” du Plessis said. He’s also picking Strickland to beat Imavov again.
Chimaev’s calendar has something on it in the meantime. He headlines Real American Freestyle’s Abu Dhabi debut on Nov. 14 at Etihad Arena against Colby Covington for the RAF cruiserweight crossover title. It’s a freestyle wrestling match, so Covington gets to talk all week without worrying about getting punched. The same card has Arman Tsarukyan vs. Neiman Gracie and Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Giga Chikadze.
My take: I don’t know who’s on the other end of that phone call, and neither does anyone guessing online. I do like a guy who lost a coin-flip split decision and responded by offering his own money for the rematch instead of lobbying for some interim strap. Imavov earned his shot, though, and five straight wins should outrank one emoji. The only appointment on Chimaev’s books right now is Covington, Nov. 14, Abu Dhabi.
