“I don’t think he did enough in the division to get the title shot.” That was what Caio Borralho claimed prior to the clash between Khamzat Chimaev and Robert Whittaker. Even though the Chechen Wolf has remained undefeated throughout his professional MMA career, there was a time when he put Dana White in a clinch. Of course, he didn’t literally wrestle with the UFC CEO, although that would have been a hilarious demonstration of his skills. The UFC head honcho actually lost his trust in the middleweight fighter, following his last moment pullouts due to health issues.

Chimaev and Whittaker were previously slated to fight at UFC Riyadh, but the Chechen fighter fell violently ill and had to be hospitalized. This put the promotion and White in a tough spot, as they had to secure an opponent for ‘The Reaper’ on short notice. Thankfully, the UFC boss managed to save the main event on UFC’s debut in Riyadh. But it did put Chimaev in a bad light. Some even started to call him a liability. Nevertheless, ‘Borz’ finally came back to fight ‘The Reaper’ at the co-main event for UFC 308, and the rest is history.

But the thing that caught everyone’s attention was the probability of Chimaev getting a title shot for his next fight. And with Donald Trump, an avid UFC fan, becoming the President of the USA, Chimaev could get a visa to fight and train on American soil. However, White had already promised Sean Strickland a fight against Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight championship title.

When the talks of Chimaev going up against DDP began to rise, ‘Tarzan’ swooped in to object. And things turned out in his favor as White stayed true to his words. He announced a fight between Strickland and Du Plessis at UFC 312, in Sydney. But how close was Chimaev to making the fight at UFC 312? During the post-fight press conference at UFC 310, when a reporter put this question to the UFC CEO, he hit back.

White replied, “How close was it? Ah, guys, I mean, what are you, f—ing stupid? Is this tonight’s question? How close he was to getting it? He is not next. How close was he? I don’t know. I mean, we sit in the room every Tuesday and we pick the fights. He is in the conversation.”

Nevertheless, Khamzat Chimaev seemed to have known that he needed to take on another fight before he could face the middleweight champion. It would probably be against the winner of Strickland vs. Du Plessis. And that’s why he plans to watch the battle in Sydney.

According to Bloody Elbow, Chimaev said, “Right now there haven’t been any offers, well I’m planning to go there (UFC 312) I already have a contract to have a couple of meetings there, need to go there according to the contract and do some work, meet with fans there, talk and communicate. I haven’t talked to anyone about a fight, nothing like that and my plans are to recover.”

It has become evident that the Chechen Wolf would have to win once more before he could get a title shot. But who would be the perfect opponent for ‘Borz’? Well, we have three fighters who could be the perfect match for him.

Israel Adesanya

After his phenomenal win against Whittaker, a reporter put forth a choice between Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland in front of Chimaev during the press conference. The #3 middleweight contender claimed that he would jump on both of them if it was for the title. But if he had to choose one man to go up against, he wanted ‘The Last Stylebender’. He said, “For me, Adesanya would be a good money fight because he has a bigger name.” Chimaev repeated the same thing on the Eye AM podcast, choosing Izzy for his next bout.

In fact, speculation about Israel Adesanya vs Khamzat Chimaev has been on the rise since earlier this year but turned out to be mere rumors. Adesanya is indeed one of the best middleweight prospects in the UFC right now. A fight between Adesanya and Chimaev would be nothing short of a blockbuster. Even though Adesanya is one of the most sought-after prospects in the division, he has been facing back-to-back defeats lately.

On the other hand, ‘Borz’ is someone who has yet to face defeat. While the matchup would be interesting to watch, it could end pretty badly for the former 2-time middleweight champion.

But Adesanya isn’t the only one who has been targeted for Chimaev. His comrade, Caio Borralho, is also on the line for a fight.

Caio Borralho

Borralho and Chimaev have often talked about each other with nothing but respect in their hearts. However, their ambition to become the middleweight champion could put them against one another in the Octagon. During a conversation with the Submission Radio in August, Borralho weighed in on a fight against Chimaev. He said, “I don’t know if he’s still busy or if he knows [I fought]. Maybe the time is coming for us to face each other or something like that.”

However, if he had the chance to choose, Borralho would never really opt to fight a close friend and training partner. But such a matchup seemed unavoidable for ‘Borz’s training partner. He continued, “But I think definitely there will be a time that we must face each other, you know? So, I’ll be ready. He’ll be ready. And we’re gonna give a great fight to the fans and great fight to the UFC for sure.”

The Brazilian currently has a 16-fight win streak as a professional MMA fighter. He has remained undefeated in the UFC. On top of that, his fights have often entertained the audience. These accolades have pushed Borralho to the top, with a chance at the title coming soon enough. But before that, he might have to face his training partner in the Octagon.

Lastly, ‘Borz’ might go up against Paulo Costa to make up for the fight that never materialized in 2023.

Paulo Costa

While ‘Borrachinha’ was once a pretty dominant fighter, his bout against Strickland proved otherwise. It was deemed as the most boring fight of their careers. No doubt, the Brazilian wasn’t happy about it. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Costa declared that he promised White and everyone else that he would bring back the old version of himself. He planned to get more aggressive inside the Octagon, and the one opponent who could help him achieve it was the Chechen Wolf.

After giving his honest opinions about his last fight against Strickland, Costa said in June, “But next, the fight I think makes sense to bring a lot of entertainment. The fight would be fun, would be against Chimaev. This is perfect… He’s the perfect kind of fighter to bring back that old Paulo, to bring back the [aggression], to bring back the ferocity. I’m looking for that. I can’t wait to bring back this because I need redemption.”

But all that we as fans need to do is wait and watch the story unfold. With Chimaev already in conversations with the UFC big guns, we might get to see the Chechen star get a few more victories in America before going up for the title.

Who do you think would Chimaev go up against for his next fight? Drop down to the comments below and keep the conversation flowing.