In anticipation of UFC 319 there were a few questions about the future of one of the biggest stars of the promotion.
Khamzat Chimaev recently put an end to rumors about him to retire if he can leave Chicago with the middleweight title on August 16.
The undefeated challenger has fought against some health problems and travelomplications that have delayed his momentum in recent years, but now he is finally planning to compete for the title.
He also made it clear that he is not only planning to stay around, Chimaev has goals that he wants to focus in other weight classes.
In the near future, this could lead to a potential superfight that some fans clearly did not have on their radar until it was raised.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
Khamzat Chimaev says that beating Islam Makhachev would be the fastest way to pound number one of the number one
Within a few months we were able to see new UFC champions awarded in both middle weight and good weight, which would completely shake the divisions.
In anticipation of UFC 319, many expected that Khamzat Chimaev's days of competing as a good weight were now behind him after he seemed to be setting up at 185 pounds.
This is not the way the challenger sees it and he wants to test himself on the weight classes below and above him when he is successful on August 16.
When he spoke to the media during his training camp, Chimaev was asked if that means that a potential matchup with Islam Makhachev could be on the cards in the future.
Khabib Nurmagomedov recently said that Makhachev will return in November to challenge Welterweight champion Jack della Maddalena in Madison Square Garden.
“We will see who will be the champion there, but I don't know,” said Chimaev. “It is the fastest way, if the man wins the fight, the fastest way to get the pound-for-pound number one.”
Fans respond to Khamzat Chimaev's comments about possibly confronted with Islam Makhachev
Fans responded to Khamzat Chimaev's comments by giving their first thoughts in the future about what a huge champion versus champion conflict could be.
While many expressed their concern about the medium-sized challenger of the middleweight and dropped a weight class, many people were enthusiastic about the prospect of seeing them going to see the main head, even if there were a great discrepancy.
Khamzat Chimaev is asked for a potential fight against Islam Makhachev on 170:
'We will see who the champion will be [at welterweight]. Don't know. It is the fastest way, if the man wins the fight, to get pound-for-pound #1. “👀 pic.twitter.com/7mh8xtflbk
– Championship Rounds (@champrds) 7 August 2025
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'I will give all my money to Dana [White] If this happens. But.'
“That would be a sick fight.”
“This fight would break records, I would like to see it happen.”
'Now these ladies and gentleman. This is the fight that everyone wants to see. This would be bigger than Sean [O’Malley] versus merab [Dvalishvili]. '
“Ok now this would be a crazy fight !!!”
“Islam vs Khamzat would feed families, I hope Islam is the underdog.”