Khamzat Chimaev title shot: he wants it back, and still refuses to call the Strickland fight a loss

One split decision separates Khamzat Chimaev from the middleweight belt he carried into UFC 328, and he spent this week arguing that the decision was wrong. A Khamzat Chimaev title shot is what he is asking for, immediately against Sean Strickland if the promotion will have it, otherwise against whoever comes out of Strickland against Nassourdine Imavov. His record says 15-1. He talks like it says 16-0.

Key takeaways

Khamzat Chimaev (15-1) is publicly demanding a middleweight title shot after losing the belt to Sean Strickland (31-7) at UFC 328 on a split decision, with two cards reading 48-47.
He wants an immediate rematch first, and failing that the winner of the next title fight between Strickland and Nassourdine Imavov (17-4).
It was the first defeat of his career, and he disputes both the result and the judging criteria behind it, telling MMA Junkie he is still the number one contender.

Khamzat Chimaev title shot: why he believes it is owed to him

An argument about what counts

His case is not that the fight was close. It is that the wrong things were rewarded. “I’m the No. 1 contender. I didn’t lose the match that people think. Like, I never seen a guy win a fight just running backwards and doing just jab, jab,” he told MMA Junkie.

Then he went after the criteria themselves: “The judges, some judges, before they said, ‘Damage, damage,’ and he didn’t get any damage from that.” That is a fighter asking why a jab thrown while retreating outscored the pressure and the grappling he spent five rounds imposing.

Two routes, one destination

The first is the direct rematch, the one a former champion who lost on two 48-47 cards can reasonably demand. The second is patience: Strickland is booked against Nassourdine Imavov, and Chimaev says he will take the winner. Either way the request is the same, and it skips the queue behind him.

What actually happened at UFC 328

The first loss, and how narrow it was

Chimaev walked into UFC 328 unbeaten and walked out without the belt. Strickland took it on a split decision, two judges at 48-47, which is the scoring equivalent of a single round changing hands. Nothing about it was a beating, in either direction, and that is precisely what keeps the argument alive.

A record that changes the conversation

At 15-1 he remains the most avoided name the division has produced in years, but the zero is gone, and the zero was doing a lot of work. Unbeaten, he could demand anything. At 15-1 he has to make a case, which is what he is doing in public rather than waiting for the matchmakers to make it for him.

Imavov, the other claim

Imavov (17-4) did not get his shot by talking. If he beats Strickland, the promotion has a new champion with no obligation to Chimaev at all, and the rematch argument becomes a queue argument. That is the version Chimaev’s camp has the least control over.

I'm the No. 1 contender. I didn't lose the match that people think. Like, I never seen a guy win a fight just running backwards and doing just jab, jab.
— Khamzat Chimaev, to MMA Junkie

What he is doing while the division decides

Visible, and winning at something else

He has not waited quietly. This week he is on a freestyle wrestling card rather than in a cage, against a familiar opponent in Gilbert Burns (22-10), whom he already beat in MMA at UFC 273 in April 2022. That is not a fight and it changes nothing in the middleweight standings, but it keeps him in front of an audience while the title picture sorts itself out without him.

The cost of waiting

A former champion who sits out a cycle watches the challengers restack. Every month without a booking is a month in which someone else wins, and the case built on a single bad night gets harder to make. He knows it, which is why the demand is being made in interviews rather than in private.

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