Khamzat Chimaev has called out Colby Covington for his next fight despite hinting a move up to middleweight.
Chimaev, 28, is expected to move up to 185lb after missing weight by 7.5lb for his welterweight clash with Nate Diaz at UFC 279 earlier this month, with the fight subsequently being scrapped. Kevin Holland was then pulled from his catchweight fight against Daniel Rodriguez on the card to face Chimaev, with 'Borz' not absorbing a single strike as he tapped out Holland just over two minutes into the opening round.
A move to middleweight for Chimaev may have to wait though, as he called for a fight with former title challenger Covington next. Little has been heard from Covington since he outpointed bitter rival Jorge Masvidal in March and there were reports he suffered a serious injury in training, but UFC boss Dana White has since dismissed those as false.
Chimaev has fought once at middleweight in the UFC before, knocking out Gerald Meerschaert in just 17 seconds in his lone fight at the weight class. 'Borz' is currently sitting at No.3 in the welterweight rankings whilst Covington is one spot above him at No.2, meaning a fight between the pair could determine the next challenger for Leon Edwards' title.
White admitted that UFC matchmakers were debating whether to book Chimaev at welterweight again following his recent weight miss. It marked the only time Chimaev had missed weight in the UFC, but he also had issues making the 170lb limit before his submission win against Li Jingliang last October.
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“There’s obviously 170 and 185 pounds,” White told reporters. “There was a big beef today at matchmaking whether he could make 170 pounds, whether we should even let him make 170 pounds again. Those are all the things that we’re kicking around right now. I’m in the middle. I’m in the ‘what does he want to do?’. Where does he want to be, and what does he want to do?
“Does he want to make 170 and go for the title at 170, or does he want to go to 185 and go for the title there? That was the big debate we had in the matchmaking meeting. One guy said one thing, one guy said another thing and then I said, ‘What does he really want?’ Somebody get in there and figure out what he really wants to do, and let’s figure it out, and let’s make a fight.”
