Khamzat Chimaev worked his entire career for the UFC middleweight title. Just a couple of days after winning it from Dricus du Plessis atop the UFC 319 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Chicago, “Borz” flew to Chechnya to surrender the strap to human rights hurter and head of the Chechen Republic,

Khamzat Chimaev burst onto the UFC scene in the summer of 2020, finishing his first three opponents in barely two months with thrashing performances. He continued to pile up gaudy numbers, and even after injuries, illnesses and other factors slowed his roll, he remained undefeated and eventually made it to a title fight at last Saturday's UFC 319.

Paulo Costa ripped Khamzat Chimaev's title-winning performance at UFC 319.

Khamzat Chimaev brought his newly won UFC title back to Chechnya.

UFC star Dricus du Plessis has spoken out after losing his middleweight title to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319, vowing to return stronger and better than ever.

Newly crowned UFC middleweight champion Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) went after de Ridder (20-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) on Tuesday with posts on X directed at the contender, just days after beating Dricus Du Plessis in an all-time dominant title fight at UFC 319.

Dana White announced that Reinier de Ridder will face Anthony Hernandez on October 18, with the result of this matchup and the main event of UFC Paris next month being used to decide the next challenger. One of the four fighters in the running to challenge Chimaev has already started to have some thoughts about how he would prepare for such a task.