Michael Bisping Outlines The Drawback For UFC Of Having Khamzat Chimaev As A Champion: 'Do The UFC Want A Champion Who...'

Rumors and reports of Khamzat Chimaev's next fight in the middleweight division have started to circulate.

A huge clash at 185 pounds between Chimaev and former champion Israel Adesanya has become a talking point as of late, although Dana White recently dismissed this fight.

A matchup of this magnitude would surely see Chimaev finally earn a title shot if he were to be successful against "The Last Stylebender."

Though he was offered a fight against welterweight champion Leon Edwards at UFC 300, "Borz" appears to be more likely to try and compete at middleweight after his victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294.

Despite the excitement that still exists around him, some questions need to be asked as to what a Chimaev title run would look like.

Bisping Questions If Setbacks Outside The Cage Would Make Chimaev An Unfavorable Champion

It's been a long time since Chimaev was the constantly active wrecking machine that put him immediately on the map as one to watch in the UFC.

Following his wins over Gilbert Burns and Kevin Holland in 2022, he fought just once in 2023, and whilst injuries played a big part in that, there are more reasons for his delays.

Former middleweight champion Michael Bisping gave his thoughts on the rumored Adesanya vs Chimaev matchup in a recent YouTube video.

He said that while Chimaev undoubtedly has a big following, his problems with getting into the United States as of late could put the UFC in a difficult position should he become the middleweight champion.

"Let's not get it twisted here, the majority of the revenue is generated by the American pay-per-view audience, that's just a fact. So, if you're the champion, you want to fight in the States and, apparently, to people and sources online - and I don't know who they are and I certainly don't have the documents in front of me and I certainly don't work for the home office or the border patrol - apparently, Khamzat Chimaev can't get a visa currently given the situation with Russia and Ukraine and Chechen, of course, being basically Russia, apparently he can't get a visa. I don't know about that, I don't know if it's true, but that's what people say online.

"Do the UFC want a champion that can't get into the United States? Maybe I'm looking a bit too deep into this but I'm telling you right, if you're the champion, you've got to fight in America. If you can't get into America, so I'm not sure the UFC would necessarily be constructing this pathway for Khamzat Chimaev to become the champion.   

Renowned Bloody Elbow journalist Karim Zidan recently reported on the situation surrounding Chimaev's inability to enter the US, noting that the problems go deeper than the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Zidan highlighted Chimaev's relationship with Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, who has had sanctions issued against him by the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).