Shortly after UFC Vegas 73 wrapped up this past Saturday. On the night of (May 20, 2023) inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White answered questions from the media as usual, and shed light on several hot topics.
Aside from updating us on the Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight, as well as Aljamain Sterling vs Sean O’Malley, the outspoken head of the largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion on the planet has given a very important update regarding a potential scrap between the former UFC welterweight champ. , Kamaru Usman, and the boogie man in the section, Khamzat Chimaev.
“It’s a fight that Osman wants, and it’s no secret. Osman literally came into the office to push for that fight. I told him I loved him. Osman is one of the best guys we’ve ever worked with. I love working with the guy,” he said via a cross. MMA junkie.
Chimaev and Usman set Twitter on fire with their social media, leading fans to believe a fight has been signed and will be delivered soon. But according to White, the fight is far from a definitive deal, hinting that weight is the biggest issue.
“I don’t do weights. You don’t. So, you know how Khamzat is. If you talk to Khamzat, he’ll treat you right and he doesn’t care who he fights and all that stuff. I don’t know. Obviously we’ve made a lot of announcements lately, and we haven’t This announcement yet because we’re not done fighting yet. But we’re working on things for Khamzat.”
Khamzat has competed at middleweight, middleweight, and 180-pound catch weight since arriving in the UFC, so weight has never been an issue for him… other than that huge accident, of course.
As for Osman, he only competed in the 170-pound class, and he is losing back-to-back championship losses to the current division king, Leon Edwards, which was preceded by his five consecutive defenses.
A win over Chimaev would certainly put him back in the thick of the championship picture, but a third consecutive defeat would make his future look a little murky. For Chimaev, directing The Nigerian Nightmare would certainly put him at the front of the line for the lead.
In which weight class, however, remains to be seen.