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Chimaev Names Four Potential Opponents as He Seeks Quick Return to UFC Title Picture

Nearly four months after losing the UFC middleweight title to Sean Strickland, Khamzat Chimaev has named four potential opponents for his return, including Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov, and Caio Borralho. With Strickland still recovering from a shoulder injury, the rematch has not been booked, and Chimaev is scheduled to face Tyron Woodley in a wrestling match in September.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 31 – Sep 1, 2026 Published 2h ago

Chimaev Calls for Fights Against Top Middleweights

Former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev has said he is ready to fight again against any of the division's top contenders, nearly four months after losing his title to Sean Strickland. In a message posted on his X account, Chimaev wrote: "I'm ready let me know when you are ready Sean Dricus Nassourdine Caio," naming Strickland, Dricus du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov, and Caio Borralho as the fights he wants.

Chimaev has not fought since the main event of UFC 328 in May, where he lost via split decision to Strickland, suffering his first career defeat and losing the middleweight crown. He has since called for an immediate rematch, but with Strickland still nursing a shoulder injury, that fight has not been booked yet.

First Career Defeat and Road to Recovery

Chimaev entered UFC 328 with an undefeated record and the middleweight championship, but Strickland pulled off the upset, earning a split-decision victory and becoming UFC champion for the second time. It was unfamiliar territory for the 32-year-old, who had steamrolled much of his competition since arriving in the UFC, building a reputation as one of the promotion's most dominant grapplers.

Strickland (31-7 MMA, 18-7 UFC) handed Chimaev the only defeat of his career, and another meeting would give Chimaev an immediate opportunity to reclaim the championship. However, the UFC typically does not grant immediate title shots to fighters who have never defended their titles successfully, though the close nature of the fight and Chimaev's first career loss could make this situation different.

Potential Opponents and Next Steps

Before turning his full attention to the UFC, Chimaev is scheduled to face former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in a Real American Freestyle match on Sept. 5 in Moscow. The wrestling match will give Chimaev an opportunity to compete again before his UFC return.

There is a good chance that Chimaev will be next for Strickland, and the two could potentially headline UFC 335 in December, the UFC's final numbered card of 2026, according to Heavy. If he doesn't get the title shot, it will likely be Imavov who gets the fight against Strickland, leaving du Plessis and Borralho as potential options for Chimaev's next opponent.

Given that Chimaev just beat du Plessis in 2025 to win the belt in the first place, and it wasn't an exciting fight, it's unlikely the UFC would book that matchup again, the outlet noted. Borralho would be an intriguing and fresh matchup, as would Joe Pyfer and Brendan Allen, who are other top contenders in the middleweight division.

Records for the named fighters, as noted by Yardbarker, include: Chimaev at 15-1 MMA (9-1 UFC), Strickland at 31-7 MMA (18-7 UFC), du Plessis at 24-3 MMA (10-1 UFC), Imavov at 17-4 MMA (9-2 UFC), and Borralho at 18-2 MMA (8-1 UFC). Strickland is targeting December for his first title defense, according to the same outlet.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

Heavy.

Framing: Emphasizes Chimaev's call for a fight against top middleweights, centering on his demand for a high-profile bout. — excited, speculative

as of Aug 31, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev said that he is ready to fight again against any of the division’s top contenders.
Chimaev has not fought since the main event of UFC 328, when he lost via split decision to Sean Strickland in a massive upset, losing his middleweight crown.
Chimaev has called for an immediate rematch against Strickland, but with Strickland still nursing a shoulder injury, that fight has not been booked yet.
Chimaev wrote on his X: “I’m ready let me know when you are ready Sean Dricus Nassourdine Caio”
Chimaev listed Strickland, Dricus du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov, and Caio Borralho as fights that he wants.
After losing his belt to Strickland, which was his first career defeat.
The UFC typically does not grant immediate title shots to fighters who have never defended their titles successfully.
It was a very close fight, and it was also his first career loss.
There is a good chance that Chimaev will be next for Strickland, and the two could potentially headline UFC 335 in December, the UFC’s final numbered card of 2026.
If he doesn’t get the title shot, then it will likely be Imavov who gets the fight against Strickland, leaving du Plessis and Borralho as potential options for Chimaev’s next opponent.
Given that he just beat du Plessis in 2025 to win the belt in the first place, and it wasn’t exactly an exciting fight, it’s unlikely that the UFC would book that matchup again.
Borralho would certainly be an intriguing matchup, and it’s a fresh one, as would Joe Pyfer and Brendan Allen, who are other top contenders in the middleweight division.

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Yardbarker

Framing: Emphasizes Chimaev's call for a quick UFC return and that he named four potential opponents

as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Chimaev lost the UFC middleweight championship to Sean Strickland nearly four months ago
Chimaev named four potential opponents: Strickland, Dricus Du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov, and Caio Borralho
Chimaev's record is 15-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC
Strickland won via split-decision at UFC 328
Chimaev is scheduled to face Tyron Woodley in a Real American Freestyle match on Sept. 5 in Moscow
Strickland's record is 31-7 MMA, 18-7 UFC
Du Plessis's record is 24-3 MMA, 10-1 UFC
Imavov's record is 17-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC
Borralho's record is 18-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC
Strickland is targeting December for his first title defense

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What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimFormer UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev said that he is ready to fight again against any of the division's top contenders.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 31, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC
ClaimChimaev has not fought since the main event of UFC 328, when he lost via split decision to Sean Strickland in a massive upset, losing his middleweight crown.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Heavy. as of Aug 31, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC, Yardbarker as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC
ClaimChimaev has called for an immediate rematch against Strickland, but that fight has not been booked yet.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 31, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC
ClaimChimaev wrote on his X: “I’m ready let me know when you are ready Sean Dricus Nassourdine Caio.”	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 31, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC
ClaimChimaev named Strickland, Dricus du Plessis, Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho as the fights he wants.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 31, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC
ClaimChimaev lost via split decision to Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 328, in Chimaev’s first career defeat.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 31, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC
ClaimStrickland is nursing a shoulder injury.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 31, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC
ClaimThe UFC typically does not grant an immediate title rematch to a champion who has never successfully defended their title.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 31, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC
ClaimChimaev is scheduled to face former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in a Real American Freestyle match on Sept. 5 in Moscow.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Yardbarker as of Sep 1, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: Heavy., Yardbarker 9 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-01