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Khamzat Chimaev of the UFC

UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev said he is eyeing a weight-class change if he beats rival Sean Strickland at UFC 328.

Chimaev has fought exclusively at welterweight and middleweight since joining the UFC in 2020. After struggling to make the 170 lbs welterweight limit, he decided to move up to 185 lbs full-time, and he beat Dricus Du Plessis last year at UFC 319 to become the promotion’s new middleweight champion.

This Saturday, Chimaev battles Strickland, a former training partner-turned-arch-rival, in the main event of UFC 328. While other middleweight contenders are waiting in the wings, this may be Chimaev’s only title defense at 185 lbs, as he is already eyeing a move up to 205 lbs in the UFC light heavyweight division.

Khamzat Chimaev Eyeing Move to 205 lbs

Speaking to reporters ahead of UFC 328, Chimaev admitted that this fight with Strickland might be his last outing at 185 lbs. Since Nassourdine Imavov is likely next in line for a title shot, and Strickland already beat him, Chimaev doesn’t feel like there is a challenge left for him in the weight class, citing MMA math as his rationale.

“If I stay there (at middleweight) and I beat Sean, Imavov was already beat by Sean, so what’s the point? We just go and (play) Russian Roulette? I just want big fights. Alex Pereira, if he loses (at UFC Freedom 250 to Ciryl Gane), he’s going to come down. He’s a big fight, big name. If not, I go to heavyweight, maybe there as well. I need big names, big money. I came here to do some big things, not just stay here and take the easy fights,” Chimaev said.

Training Partner Says Khamzat Chimaev Will Dominate Light Heavyweight

Chimaev’s current training partner in Las Vegas, Khalil Rountree Jr., is one of the top-ranked light heavyweights in the UFC. In a recent media availability, Rountree said that the 205 lbs division is screwed if Chimaev moves up to the weight class.

“I feel many different ways (about Chimaev moving up). When I first heard the news, I was a bit bummed out, really. Just to know that a guy like Khamzat would come to the division, and that could be a potential matchup if that happened, it doesn’t make me happy to think about that,” Rountree said.

“Training with this guy, he’s one of the best in the world. It’s difficult. It’s difficult in all areas, in standup, in grappling. No one gets an easy round with Khamzat. It doesn’t matter what weight class, what size. So, that’s what my initial thoughts were. Like, damn, if he made the move up, we’re all kinda screwed. Yeah, that’s how I look at it.”

All of this rests on what happens at UFC 328. If Chimaev is upset by Strickland, the odds of him moving up to light heavyweight will go down. But if he goes out there and dominates his rival, then a move up to 205 lbs before the end of the year is a very real possibility. And, if we are to believe him, maybe a future move to heavyweight, too.