It’s official. Khamzat Chimaev is shooting his shot. Taking to X, the middleweight king called out the light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira. Not only this, but he made him a promise, that he would finish the champion fast.
The dominant middleweight king is certainly shooting his shot, and what has he got to lose? Neither man is currently booked, and despite having contenders in their divisions, it appears both divisions are stalling.
It would appear that Khamzat Chimaev isn’t confident that Pereira will accept his callout. So he took to X again to post another message, calling for Pereira’s countrymen to encourage their man to fight.
UFC president, Dana White, has promised a huge card to celebrate President Donald Trump‘s birthday. The president himself has stated that there will be multiple title fights on the card… Could we see a Khamzat Chimaev vs Alex Pereira megafight?
Khamzat Chimaev vs Alex Pereira?
The two men would have an interesting clash of styles, with 185lbs champion, Khamzat Chimaev, being one of the most dominant wrestlers the UFC has ever seen. In his first title opportunity, Borz took the then-champion, Dricus du Plessis, down 12 times, clocking up 21:40 control time. Pereira, on the other hand, has landed just one takedown in his UFC career and, as a multiple-time kickboxing world champion, is much more comfortable on the feet.
Aside from financial benefit, there is little in the fight for Poatan. As for Chimaev, he has very little to lose. He would likely keep his middleweight strap and if he lost at light heavyweight, he could return to 185lbs.
As of yet, the UFC has yet to announce any match-ups for the June 14th card, however, due to the global impact of the card, expect announcements and confirmations to come soon. France has delayed the 2026 Group of 7 summit to avoid clashing with the historic UFC card.
