Khamzat Chimaev believes Alex Pereira is ducking him.
Earlier this year, Chimaev finally accomplished what many foresaw for him when he entered the UFC, winning the middleweight title in a lopsided fight against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319. Shortly after the fight, Chimaev did what many champions do and started lobbying for a shot at a second title, calling out light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. “Poatan” dismissed Chimaev’s callout, saying he’s focused on bigger fights, but offered to compete with Chimaev in some form of grappling, an offer Pereira believes shows the truth of the situation: that Pereira is avoiding fighting him.
“Good fight for me,” Chimaev told ESPN. “Everyone knows that. UFC knows that, but UFC doesn’t want to give this guy to me. And [Pereira] said, ‘Oh, I’ll come to you, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, grappling,‘ I don’t know what. Grappling, jiu-jitsu, it’s not our job. Our job is UFC. UFC fighters. …
“He said he can fight with [Dricus] du Plessis. He accepted the fight, but now he’s like, ‘Oh, it’s Khamzat, not good fight for me.’ And he’s saying he’s more famous than me, that’s why I’m using his name. Bro, if I just say ‘Hi,’ my story on Instagram makes more views than his fight. So, I don’t think this guy more famous than me.
“Him and his coach, [Glover] Teixeira, they say if he see me in hotel or something, bro, I don’t need hotel. You need to come to the UFC. You have a contract. If you want to fight, let’s go. Why are you saying that stuff? This baby shit. If you want to fight, real fight, we meet somewhere. So, let’s see who has a big heart. I don’t have problems fighting anywhere, hotel, no hotel, whatever. But our business is UFC. It’s same fight. Go in there, make money, fight, let people watch who is real fighter. …
“I don’t think he wants that fight,” Chimaev continued. “He knows about it, and UFC knows about it. I can’t say the things UFC says, but it’s going to be not respect for Alex, because everyone knows this guy is not my level. He’s a good striker, one of the best strikers. I give the respect for him. He has knockout power and everything, but, brother, ask whoever 99 percent in the world who’s watching UFC, they’re going to tell you who is going to win. He knows it. That’s why he’s running away.”
Well, Chimaev intends to chase him. The middleweight champion was open about his motivations for calling out Pereira, and it’s not so much about the bushido spirit, but about his bank account.
“For me, it’s not big important. I fight anyone,” Chimaev said. “I’m going to fight anyone. The important thing is pay good [laughs]. Alex, they’re going to pay good for Alex. Good pay-per-views, they’re going to pay more money for that. That’s why I’m pushing for that. But in my weight class, whoever. There is Imavov, there is Strickland, Hernandez, whoever. All of them I see a big check, good money. …
“These fights not make me excited, but I need to do my job. I need to make money. If there is big name, can make more money, then I will be excited. Because if you get like, $3 million for a fight, then, you have a good name, you make $5-6 million. Of course you’re going to be excited about that. For one guy, you do double job. I need that kind of fights.”
For now, it seems likely that Chimaev will not get a chance to face Pereira, as the new champion has work to do in his own weight class. Nassourdine Imavov is the clear No. 1 contender at middleweight and will most likely be the next man up for Chimaev. And while “Borz” isn’t necessarily thrilled about that fight, he’s happy to take it, as he intends for it to be his final fight at 185 pounds.
“He’s a good guy,” Chimaev said of Imavov, whom he has trained with before. “I know him, he knows me, we know each other. If you ask me, I don’t want to fight this guy, because we know each other. Like, a muslim, he’s from Dagestan; Dagestan and Chechen people, a lot of drama on the internet, all these things I don’t like about it, but if the UFC wants it, never gonna say no. If the guy wants it, I tell his manager as well, brother, if Nassourdine wants, I will be open. If he says he can’t wait until I move up, I will be waiting. I’m not gonna say no. For me, it doesn’t matter. Whatever he decides, the UFC decides, we’ll see.
“There are a lot of options. But I want to, for sure, one more fight I’m going to go one more weight class up. One more fight and I want to go up next weight class.”
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