Khamzat Chimaev has finally let his fans know about his New Year’s resolution for 2025. It was made evident in 2024 when ‘Borz’ returned to the UFC with a vengeance. Despite staying away from competing for a year, the Russian ignored the downtime and paid no attention to Robert Whittaker, finishing the Australian in the first round at UFC 308.

Undefeated in MMA and excited by the important victory, Chimaev has now taken to his Instagram to let his fans know about his intention to fight for the middleweight belt within the next 11 months.

Uploading pictures of himself from inside the Octagon, ‘Borz’ wrote, “2025 I will take this belt InShAllah, and no one can stop it.” While it is true that the latest news on the internet suggests that the middleweight kingpin Dricus du Plessis will face Islam Makhachev as the duo faces off for the double champion status.

However, the match involving the two fighters has not yet been made official by the UFC. So now, Chimaev has made himself available to the company to face the South African by revealing that he is ready to fight for the title. And if we consider the Russian’s current run, we wouldn’t be surprised if his plans for 2025 do come true. Since, after his victory against Whittaker, he cemented third in the rankings and earned praise from Dana White himself.

Undefeated in MMA, the 29-year-old Russian has had eight fights in the UFC and impressed in every one of his matches. However, for now, he will have to see if Dricus Du Plessis remains the champion, as Sean Strickland has introduced some new rules that might go against the South African’s game plans. In fact, it might also affect ‘Borz’ as well. So, what is this new challenge? Let’s find out!

Sean Strickland issues new challenges that might affect Khamzat Chimaev’s plans

On February 9, Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis will face off for the UFC middleweight title. And, even before entering the Octagon at UFC 312, the American challenger chose to make a proposal to the South African, only if the middleweight kingpin was willing to accept it. Strickland suggested to Dricus Du Plessis that both fighters avoid takedowns and be on their feet throughout the fight.

Obviously, DDP disagreed with the agreement. “There are no pacts between lions and men,” Dricus Du Plessis replied effectively through his official account in ‘X’. However, if Strickland wins the fight and gets crowned as the new champion, he could make the same proposal to Khamzat Chimaev. Being the confident fighter that he is, ‘Borz’ might even accept it even though he is a wrestler who relies on takedowns. So, it might hinder his chances of being the middleweight champion of the Dana White-led promotion as he manifested on his Instagram post.

But for now, all eyes are on the fight between Strickland and Du Plessis. The duo met for the first time in January of last year, at UFC 297, in Canada. Back then, the South African won the fight via a controversial split decision and became the middleweight champion of the biggest MMA promotion in the world. Due to the controversial result, the rematch between the rivals in Australia is seen as a settling of the rivalry between the two stars of the category. It will also decide who Khamzat Chimaev goes after to grab himself the gold. So, what do you think? Who will win the fight? Let us know in the comments.