It's been ages since we've seen Khamzat Chimaev in action. After fighting three times in his first two months in the UFC, “Borz” has only been in action twice since the start of 2022, with his last fight coming back in September last year. The good news is he's all but set to return at UFC 294 which takes place Oct. 21. It appeared as if his opponent would be former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. However, the bad news is that now seems unlikely as things stand largely due to issues over the weight.
So in case a fight doesn't pan out between the pair, who could Chimaev face instead? Here are five alternatives to Kamaru Usman that Khamzat Chimaev could fight in his return at UFC 294.
Paulo Costa
Paulo Costa appeared destined to be the opponent for Chimaev ever since their beef started back at UFC 279 when they had their infamous altercation. In fact, it appeared as if they would be fighting at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi as there were rumors they were in talks for the fight to happen earlier this year. However, it seemingly fell through with Costa now scheduled to fight at UFC 291 on July 29 against Ikram Aliskerov.
Given that fact, it seems pretty unlikely that Costa will be able to have a short turnaround and fight Chimaev on Oct 21. That said, it's not impossible. After all, Dricus du Plessis is slated to fight Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in September, having only competed at UFC 290 this past weekend. If the UFC really needs a fight for Chimaev and a marquee one at that, they'll make an offer Costa cannot refuse. Provided he defeats Aliskerov, of course.
Jared Cannonier
The option that makes the most sense has to be Jared Cannonier. The American has won four of his last five with his only loss coming to Israel Adesanya in their title fight in July last year. He has since rebounded with wins over Sean Strickland and most recently, Marvin Vettori last month. A fight against Chimaev would certainly be an intriguing one and Cannonier has even spoken of the matchup, declaring that he'd only fight him if a title shot was guaranteed with a win.
Whether a guaranteed title shot comes with a potential Chimaev fight remains to be seen, but it would be some statement if Cannonier was to become the first to inflict defeat on the Swede — and it'd be very hard to deny him a second title shot as well.
Marvin Vettori
Marvin Vettori has lost two of his last three and while he's still young, he may find his best chances of getting UFC gold if he moved up to the light heavyweight division. That said, there would be no better way to prove he's still a major player in the 185-pound division than by facing and defeating Chimaev.
Given the Italian's wrestling credentials, it would also be a fascinating matchup and one many in the MMA world would be excited to watch. While Chimaev has faced a ranked welterweight contender in Gilbert Burns, he's yet to do the same at middleweight. The stylistic matchup with Vettori will certainly answer a lot of questions about Chimaev's future prospects at 185 pounds, but if he comes out on top, it would be hard to see the UFC not pushing him right to a title shot.
Roman Dolidze
Speaking of Vettori, his last win came in a back-and-forth war against Roman Dolidze. But that's nothing to be ashamed of for Dolidze — some even thought he won the fight — who was a winner of his previous four outings prior to the setback. Many in the MMA world are high on the Georgian and like Chimaev, he has shown that he can not only grapple, but knock people out. After all, his last three wins have all come by way of knockout.
It's not the marquee opponent that many would have preferred, but Dolidze is currently unbooked, it would be an entertaining battle and in the end, he'd still be the toughest opponent Chimaev has faced at 185 pounds thus far.
Conor McGregor
This is the most unlikely option as there are doubts as to whether Conor McGregor will fight at all in 2023, let alone compete against Chimaev. There's still the issue with USADA as the Irishman is yet to enter the drug testing pool for a period of at least six months. That said, what if he could be granted a special exemption and fight Chimaev in the headliner in Abu Dhabi? Most would assume Islam Makhachev would headline the event, but with Charles Oliveira unavailable and Alexander Volkanovski requiring surgery, perhaps an opportunity could present itself for this massive matchup to headline instead?
Again, this is extremely unlikely…but one can dream.
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