Khamzat Chimaev names his next opponent days after providing return timeframe

Khamzat Chimaev tells Nassourdine Imavov to work on his wrestling in recent post

Ever since he won the 185 pound gold in August, there has been a debate as to who should be Khamzat Chimaev’s first title challenger.

Jon Jones may be pushing for a rematch with Chimaev after the champion got the better of him, but there are contenders at middleweight who deserve the opportunity.

Watch Jon Jones wrestle Khamzat Chimaev

Even after his win over Caio Borralho in September, Nassourdine Imavov wasn’t guaranteed to earn a title shot despite his impressive winning streak.

The Frenchman’s chances of facing Chimaev received a boost after Reinier de Ridder’s win streak was ended by Brendan Allen, leaving him as the clear contender.

It appears that ‘Borz’ has now confirmed this in a recent post on X, where he sent some words of advice to Imavov.

“See you after Ramadan @imavov1. You have time [to] work on your wrestling bratishka [little brother].”

Khamzat Chimaev shared his immediate reaction to Nassourdine Imavov’s latest win

While the middleweight champion didn’t have much to say after watching Nassourdine Imavov beat Caio Borralho, the fight did attract his attention.

Khamzat Chimaev complimented both men for a “good fight” in a short and sweet statement shortly after the Frenchman got his hand raised in front of his home fans.

‘Borz’ may have named Imavov as the opponent that he will face once he makes his return, but that doesn’t mean that the UFC are going to follow his lead.

A title shot would certainly be deserved for Imavov, but there’s still a lot of time before that matchup actually gets made official.