Khamzat Chimaev had a plan, and it involved paperwork. The former UFC champion explained his post-match clash with Dillon Danis at RAF by saying he deliberately held off until the judges told him he’d won. Then he went after Danis.
MMA Fighting posted Chimaev’s explanation on X, and he didn’t dress it up much: “He talked so much sh*t about a lot of stuff. … I asked the judges if I won the fight. They said ‘yes,’ and that’s why I jumped on him.”
That’s the whole thing. Danis talked, Chimaev kept a mental tab, and the moment the result was locked in, the tab got paid. MMA Fighting framed it as Chimaev knowing he had to wait until after their RAF match to settle things, which tells you he understood exactly what was at stake if he’d jumped the gun before the decision was read.
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Where everybody stands in RAF
RAF dropped its inaugural crossover rankings on Monday, and Chimaev landed at No. 4 on the pound-for-pound list, behind Colby Covington, Henry Cejudo and Arman Tsarukyan, with Merab Dvalishvili rounding out the top five. Covington owns the top spot at 5-0 in the promotion, and one of those five wins came against Danis. Danis didn’t crack the published top 20.
Danis has a big night lined up anyway. MMA Fighting’s preview had him headlining RAF 14 in Las Vegas against Tsarukyan, who is 7-1 in RAF, for the inaugural middleweight crossover title. Chimaev was slotted into the co-main against former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.
Danis has also been in the news for his buddy Conor McGregor. He told MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck that McGregor “was in a dark place” after his comeback against Max Holloway at UFC 329 ended with a knee injury seconds in, and said McGregor is now isolated in L.A. rehabbing after ACL reconstruction surgery with a 24/7 nurse.
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Chimaev, meanwhile, has more than one target. Dovy reported on X, citing RedCorner MMA, that Chimaev offered to pay Sean Strickland $1 million out of his own pocket if Strickland accepts a rematch by tomorrow, and that he called Strickland’s injuries “bullsh*t.”
Quick take
I’ll be honest, there’s something hilarious about a guy who wants to maul you but first raises his hand like a kid in class to double-check the scorecards. That’s a man protecting his win bonus and his record, and I respect the discipline more than I respect the jump itself. Danis has built an entire career on saying whatever he wants and dealing with the fallout later, and eventually the fallout was always going to be a Chechen wrestler who keeps receipts. What I want now is for Chimaev to stay this locked in for Lawler, and for Strickland to answer that $1 million offer before the deadline instead of letting it rot in his DMs. Somebody please pick up that check.
