Khamzat will not be returning to the Octagon for a while.
Chimaev received a hero’s welcome when he brought the UFC middleweight title back to the United Arab Emirates in August.
In the main event of UFC 319, the undefeated opponent defeated Dricus duPlessis by using his wrestling to dethrone him.
Chimaev and Arman Tsarukyan reunited in Qatar this week after Arman was part of Chimaev’s camp during his recent title victory.
Before his training partner’s main event on Saturday night, the 31-year-old champion provided the latest update on when he will put the belt on the line.
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Khamzat Chimaev is likely to be out at least until April because of a foot surgery
Immediately after he won the middleweight title, Dana White said he’d consider Khamzat Chimaev’s goal of making a quick turnaround for his first defense of the belt.
If there’s one big knock against the undefeated star, it’s that he hasn’t been overly active in recent years, fighting just once per year in 2025, 2024, and 2023.
However, it wasn’t long after UFC 319 that it was claimed that Chimaev wouldn’t be fighting again until 2026, which left fans disappointed after the talk in the immediate aftermath of his latest win.
Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images
‘Borz’ has now stated when speaking with Adam Zubayraev, who documented his title win, that the need for an operation on his foot has put a halt to his plans for the time being.
Chimaev claimed that he’ll need to take a break from training before starting to prepare after Ramadan, which ends on March 18.
This suggests, given the time he’d need to go through a training camp, April will be the earliest time that we’ll see the middleweight title defended.
The Bloody Elbow staff has predicted the UFC Qatar main match between Arman Tsarukyan and Dan Hooker.
Khamzat Chimaev says he'll be out until after Ramadan…
2025-11-21 13:51:54
