Reports yesterday suggested that Khamzat Chimaev was the UFC’s new target to headline the upcoming UFC 300 event in Las Vegas on April 13th, but the star has quickly ruled out any chance of that happening.
“I think that the top choice is Leon [Edwards] vs. Khamzat [Chimaev],” MMAfighting’s Ariel Helwani had stated on his ‘MMA Hour’ show yesterday. “This could all fizzle out and I think we’ll find out in the next few days. But I believe that is the top choice at the moment. I also believe those other 3 fights are at play as well. Leon-Belal, Izzy-DDP, and Khamzat-DDP as well. And so, let’s see what happens.”
However, Khamzat swiftly put this rumor to bed.
“I will fight everybody,” Chimaev told MMA Uncensored. “Leon [Edwards], [Dricus] du Plessis, anyone, but not [during] Ramadan. I think Ramadan [is during] UFC 300.
“Maybe somebody in Saudi Arabia. I want to fight there. Not fighting in Ramadan anymore.”
So that appears to rule out two of the UFC’s preferred options to have him fight either welterweight champion Leon Edwards or middleweight champ Dricus du Plessis.
with Du Plessis also having appeared to distance himself from fighting at UFC 300 in recent days that leaves only one option remaining on Helwani’s list of targeted fights – a welterweight title fight between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad.
It’s long been known that this was a potential option for the UFC, but given that it’s not the kind of glamour fight that everyone expects to headline the UFC 300 show it’s generally been overlooked as anything other than a possible co-main event.
However, unless the UFC are able to rustle up a more compelling match-up for either light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira or interim-heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall instead then it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see what else they can do just eight weeks out from the biggest event of the year.
