Khamzat Chimaev reluctant to fight Imavov: “It would be a conflict between Dagestan and Chechnya”

Khamzat Chimaev is not eager to fight Nassourdin Imavov. According to the middle division champion, the duel could lead to a conflict between fans from Dagestan and Chechnya.

Khamzat Chimaev at first seemed ready to fight a clash with Nassourdin Imavov. The UFC middleweight champion even bit the contender in the media by suggesting that the challenger focus on wrestling training in the coming months.

Later, Chimaev said he was facing surgery, and this would make him ready to return to competition only after Ramadan in 2026. Fans didn’t like this, but the topic quickly quieted down. Unsurprisingly, Khamzat gave an online interview to ESPN reporters.

During the interview, Chimaev surprised and stated that if someone from the UFC asked him he would not want to fight a duel with Nassourdin Imavov. Khamzat was quick to point out the reason for this approach to the subject.

– If they would ask me, I don’t want to fight him. He’s a good guy, we know each other. We have the same faith. He is from Dagestan, and such a duel would lead to a conflict between Dagestan and Chechnya. People would challenge each other, a lot of bad things would happen, the worst g**na. That’s why I don’t like the idea of such a fight.

Of course, while sharing the sympathies of Caucasian peoples seems inevitable here, one must also realize that MMA fans outside Chechnya or Dagestan probably identify and associate more with representatives of the latter country.

Dagestan has been strongly represented in the UFC octagon for years by top fighters such as Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Umar Nurmagomedov, Magomed Ankalaev and Nassourdine Imavov. The latter, of course, officially represents France however, even on materials promoting the galas he openly mentions Dagestan and talks about simply representing both countries.

All of this means that a possible fight with Imavov could turn out to be a PR shot in the foot for Khamzat, especially if the bloodthirsty Khimaev were to let himself go and get into an exchange of words with Imavov’s camp.