Khamzat Chimaev disputes Dana White’s claims that his hiatus from the UFC is due to personal reasons

Khamzat Chimaev says he is ready to fight.

For months now, many fans have wondered when Chimaev will be fighting again as there has been no word on his next fight. He hasn’t fought since September of 2022, when he submitted Kevin Holland and the plan was for him to return at middleweight.

Yet, Chimaev’s return fight hasn’t been booked and ahead of UFC 288, White revealed the Swede is dealing with personal issues, which is why he hasn’t fought.

“That’s on him, though. He’s got stuff going on in his personal life. That’s not because we’re not getting him a fight. Obviously you know how it goes here. I talk about this all the time, we have to get guys three fights a year. If we don’t get guys three fights a year, we have to pay them. The only way that wouldn’t happen is if they have personal stuff going on,” White said to TSN about Chimaev.

After Dana White’s comments, Khamzat Chimaev took to social media to respond to it and said he has no personal issues and has been waiting for a fight. He also revealed he has been training the entire time waiting to get another fight.

I have no problems with fights, if they gave me a fight, I would have fought a long time ago, I did so many training camps and not one fight, the problem is definitely not with me, prepared in dubai then to thailand, why do I train so much if there is no fight, I don’t understand

— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) May 8, 2023

“I have no problems with fights, if they gave me a fight, I would have fought a long time ago, I did so many training camps and not one fight, the problem is definitely not with me, prepared in dubai then to thailand, why do I train so much if there is no fight, I don’t understand,” Chimaev tweeted.

As of right now, it’s uncertain who to believe but if we take Chimaev at face value, he is ready to return and is hoping to get booked soon. Who and when he will fight is uncertain, but there have been talks of him facing Paulo Costa in October in Abu Dhabi.

Chimaev is currently 12-0 and coming off the submission win over Holland. Prior to that, he beat Gilbert Burns by decision and also holds notable wins over Li Jingliang and Gerald Meerschaert.

Who would you like to see Khamzat Chimaev fight next?