Outside Source
Imavov recently revealed that the UFC brass originally wanted to match him against Chimaev in December 2025. The potential timeline was later postponed to this past February, but Chimaev was injured. Imavov says that although matchmaker Mick Maynard recently reiterated his interest in the matchup, nothing has been confirmed yet.
Multiple Delays
“No final news yet, no contract signed,” Imavov told MMAFighting.com. “One of the last discussions I had with Hunter Campbell and Mick Maynard in Qatar – They told me that they wanted to schedule the fight against Khamzat for December, then for February. But Khamzat got injured. We spoke recently with Mick Maynard, and they want to see the fight happen, but we don’t have final approval.”
Imavov (17-4) is widely considered the most deserving middleweight title contender with wins over Roman Dolidze, Jared Cannonier, Brendan Allen, Israel Adesanya and Caio Borralho in his last five outings. However, former champ Sean Strickland re-entered the title picture by knocking out Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston last weekend. Imavov has since been calling for a chance to avenge his previous loss against Strickland, dating back to 2023. Meanwhile, Strickland is eyeing a title shot against Chimaev, who doesn’t seem opposed to the idea.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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