"It's definitely a concern. It's going to be very interesting to see how fast he wants to turn around. He's a guy that's been very open and honest about injuries, and setbacks with his health. Hopefully we don't have to have an interim. If it comes to that hopefully we just strip and he comes back and fights for it. I guess we'll see."
"I think that's kind of like the story of Chimaev, right? He just talks a lot, he gets a lot of eyes. It's not to the degree, but it's like Conor (McGregor) talking, talking, talking, just to stay relative," he said. "Chimaev's not that bad. He doesn't say that much stuff and that much reckless stuff. He's got a lot of work to do in our division first. It's not like he's a huge 85er that's cutting a lot like Alex was to get to 85. It's weird, but I don't think that's in his future right now."
Khamzat Chimaev's history of injuries and health setbacks raises concern that the UFC middleweight division could be stalled. Prolonged inactivity creates the possibility of an interim title or stripping the current champion if inactivity continues. Chimaev attracts attention through promotional talk, drawing comparisons to Conor McGregor but with less reckless commentary. Chimaev faces obstacles within the middleweight ranks and may not immediately pursue moves between weight classes. Reinier de Ridder is unbeaten in the UFC since November and is a former two-division ONE champion with four straight middleweight wins. A win over de Ridder would move a contender closer to the top five.
Read at Cageside Press
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