“Definitely, I’d Like to Fight” Khamzat Chimaev, Says Israel Adesanya, but Has One Glaring Concern for Rumored UFC 300 Bout

One of the most active champions in UFC history, Israel Adesanya is on a hiatus from fighting. His shocking loss to loudmouth middleweight Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in September this year caused the Kiwi to announce that he would be taking an indefinite break from fighting, even joking he would return in 2027.

However, fans are almost guaranteed to see ‘Stylebender’ in the octagon before then. And some feel we may ‘Izzy’ back in action rather soon. The former middleweight champion had spoken about wanting to fight on the UFC 300 anniversary megacard in the run-up to the Strickland bout. And a recently resurfaced clip has fans feeling he might fight Khamzat Chimaev on the April card.

Israel Adesanya on what it would take for him to fight Khamzat Chimaev

Israel Adesanya appeared on episode #151 of the True Geordie podcast last year. During the course of the podcast, the host asked the then-middleweight champion his thoughts about Khamzat Chimaev who was still a welterweight at that point.

Adesanya told Geordie that he was not taking the Chechen seriously at the moment, as he had not fought any middleweights yet. However, Adesanya did admit that he would be open to fighting Chimaev if he can become a contender. The Kiwi was also impressed by ‘Borz’s first-round victory over Jingliang Li.

“I don’t have to take him seriously till I have to take him seriously. And that’s a guy that, definitely, I’d like to fight; if he does what he says he wants to do. Because guess what? He’ll bring in a lot of eyes. But show me something first,” Adesanya said.

“His last fight made me take notice. I was really impressed with it. So, that’s what made me take notice of him properly. But at the moment, still, it’s just barking in the wind ‘cause who’s he fought at 185?” he added.

The resurfacing of this clip, combined with ‘Izzy’ having expressed a desire to fight on UFC 300, has led some fans to speculate that we might get a possible Israel Adesanya vs. Khamzat Chimaev bout at UFC 300. However, given that the Emirati citizen is an official title contender, the bout is highly unlikely to happen.

Chimaev is unlikely to agree to face ‘Izzy’ at UFC 300 even if offered

Khamzat Chimaev is officially the no. 1 title contender for the UFC middleweight title. ‘Borz’ defeated Kamaru Usman after the latter replaced Paulo Costa as the Chechen’s UFC 294 opponent on short notice. Dana White had promised the winner of their co-main event bout would fight Strickland for the title next.

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However, Chimaev had to turn down a UFC 297 Strickland fight in January 2024 as he was recovering from an injury sustained during the Usman fight. Given that his next fight will certainly be for the middleweight title, it does not make sense for him to fight Adesanya at UFC 300 and risk losing his shot at the 185-pound division’s gold.

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