One of the UFC’s newest champions apparently only wants to defend his title once before pursuing a second belt in another weight class.
Last weekend’s UFC 323 card saw two UFC belts change hands at the final PPV event of the year before the promotion kicks off its new deal with Paramount in 2026. Petr Yan reclaimed the bantamweight strap in the main event with an upset-win in his rematch with Merab Dvalishvili, while Joshua Van won the flyweight belt after reigning titleholder Alexandre Pantoja suffered an arm injury during the opening minute of their co-main event bout.
Fans already saw Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev vacate titles before they moved up in weight to win new belts this year, and apparently UFC Middleweight Champion Khamzat Chimaev plans to follow suit in 2026.
Khamzat Chimaev Shares Bold Timeline For Light Heavyweight Move
Speaking to ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto, Chimaev claimed that he only wants to defend his middleweight belt once before moving up to light heavyweight.
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“There is [Nassourdine] Imavov, there is [Sean] Strickland, there is [Anthony] Hernandez,” Chimaev explained. “All of them I see like, big check. Good money. A lot of options. But I wanna for sure, one more fight I’m gonna go one more weight class up. One more fight, and I’ll move up next weight class.”
Dricus Du Plessis Murphy (red gloves) and Khamzat Chimaev (blue gloves) react after their fight during UFC 319 at United Center. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
A former welterweight, Chimaev made the full-time move to the middleweight division after he famously missed weight ahead of a matchup with Nate Diaz that was supposed to headline UFC 279. “Borz” ended up submitting Kevin Holland in the co-main event instead, and after two more victories he took the middleweight belt from Dricus du Plessis in his most recent outing at UFC 319.
Would A Loss Derail Chimaev’s Double-Champ Plans?
Chimaev has actively discussed the idea of moving up in weight to fight Alex Pereira since claiming the middleweight belt, but it’s still a bit of surprise to hear the 31-year-old definitively claim that he’ll be leaving the 185 lbs. division after his next fight.
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As noted by Chimaev himself, the middleweight division does have several names that he could conceivably meet for his first middleweight title defense. The expectation is that he’ll face #2-ranked Nassourdine Imavov next, but former middleweight king Sean Strickland and Anthony Hernandez are also slated to meet in a pivotal matchup that will headline UFC Houston on February 21.
Nassourdine Imavov (red gloves) fights Caio Borralho (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Accor Arena. | Per Haljestam-Imagn Images
It’s possible that Chimaev intends to move up to light heavyweight regardless of whether or not Pereira still holds that division’s title, and “Poatan” has also regularly been making headlines with his desire to move up to heavyweight move to fight Jon Jones and/or try to become the first three-division champion in UFC history.
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