"For Khamzat Chimaev to continue to call [Pereira] out, I think Khamzat potentially has outgrown the weight class again, to where now he's like, 'Let me go to a new division where I can make the weight and I can capture that,' Usman said on the "Pound 4 Pound" podcast. 'Because there's all types of rumors coming out saying he is 230 pounds.'"
"'Khamzat is a big guy. Khamzat's always been the big guy. The fact that Khamzat was making 170 pounds is just ridiculous as Anthony Johnson when he was making 170 pounds... And if he goes up there and gets that title, that opens the door for another Russian, Nassurdine Imavov, to get that middleweight title.'"
Khamzat Chimaev won the middleweight title against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 in August 2025 and has not yet defended it. Chimaev is calling for a light heavyweight title shot against Alex Pereira while rumors and reports indicate he struggles to make middleweight, with some reports listing him near 230 pounds. Chimaev previously missed weight multiple times at welterweight and permanently moved up after a 7.5-pound miss in 2022. A move to light heavyweight would create a vacancy at middleweight that Nassourdine Imavov could pursue, though Imavov and Chimaev appear reluctant to fight each other.
Read at Sherdog
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