Khamzat Chimaev calls out “chicken heart” Conor McGregor

By Tom Taylor - July 27, 2020

Khamzat Chimaev is already shooting for the stars in terms of callouts. On Monday, the Chechen-Swede set his crosshairs on Conor McGregor.

Conor McGregor, Khamzat Chimaev

Chimaev debuted in the UFC on July 15, winning a middleweight fight with John Phillips with a D’Arce choke in the first round. Just 10 days’ later, the Chechen-Swede picked up his second Octagon win, mauling former BAMMA champ Rhys McKee to a first-round TKO in a welterweight fight.

In the wake of these two Octagon victories, which set the UFC record for the shortest time between wins, Chimaev has not been shy about his callouts. After a Twitter skirmish with McGregor training partner Dillon Danis, he’s now called out the former two-division UFC champion himself.

Chimaev made his callout of McGregor on Twitter.

“@TheNotoriousMMA Tab machine king chicken heart @danawhite i’m hungry give me Give me dessert.”

Shortly before he called out McGregor, Chimaev also called out No. 7-ranked welterweight contender Demian Maia, and No. 8-ranked welterweight contender Michael Chiesa.

While Chimaev would understandably love the opportunity to fight McGregor, who is far and away the biggest star in the history of MMA, this definitely feels like a premature callout. Not only is McGregor only interested in fights with the biggest names available, but he’s also ostensibly retired from competition.

The Irishman announced his retirement shortly after UFC 250 in June.

“The game just does not excite me, and that’s that,” McGregor told ESPN shortly after announcing his retirement on Twitter. “All this waiting around. There’s nothing happening. I’m going through opponent options, and there’s nothing really there at the minute. There’s nothing that’s exciting me.

“I’m a bit bored of the game,” McGregor added. “I’m here watching the fight. I watched the last show — the [Tyron-Woodley-Gilbert Burns] show — I watched the show tonight. I’m just not excited about the game, Ariel. I don’t know if it’s no crowd. I don’t know what it is. There’s just no buzz for me.”

Do you think this callout from Khamzat Chimaev will get a response from Conor McGregor?