Khamzat Chimaev may very well be the backup fighter for the UFC 312 middleweight title fight in Sydney, Australia, between Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland.
That is, at least, according to speculation from Submission Radio, whose latest Instagram post about the bout got MMA fans talking.
A snippet from an interview with Eric Nicksick, who serves as the head coach for Strickland, saw him openly question whether Khamzat Chimaev will serve as the main event backup fighter due to ‘Borz’ already being in Sydney doing seminars. While the UFC has not yet made any official announcements, fan interest has been piqued.
Many flocked to the comment section of the post to offer their thoughts on the situation. One fan brought up Chimaev’s rumored VISA issues, which are reportedly due to his affiliation with heavily sanctioned Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov.
“How did he get let into the country??” wrote the fan on Instagram.
Others, though, cracked jokes about the muddied title situation at middleweight.
“Just make it a triple threat match,” commented one user.
Some even scoffed at the du Plessis vs. Strickland bout, before expressing maximum confidence that Khamzat Chimaev could defeat both on the same night.
“Khamzat would beat bith [both] same night. DDP vs. Strickland is a low-level fight,” wrote the fan.
This was, to a degree, echoed by another fan, who commented:
“He beats both so it doesn’t matter, it’ll eventually happen lol.”
A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:
Chimaev currently has his sights set on the middleweight title, so whoever emerges victorious at UFC 312 should expect to face him next, especially if it is Du Plessis, who would be securing his second title defense.