‘I like that. I’m in’: Dana White responds to Khamzat Chimaev’s plans for FOUR fights on comeback trail this year

Khamzat Chimaev is raring to pick up where he left off in the UFC octagon – and Dana White says he’s down with plans for the Chechen-born sensation to fight four times by the end of 2021.

After earning three wins in the space of just 66 days in the UFC last year, Chimaev has been inactive since September amid a spate of bad luck which has stalled his remarkable rise in the world's biggest MMA promotion.

More specifically, that misfortune included a Covid infection for Chimaev which finally put paid to a headline match-up with welterweight standout Leon Edwards earlier this year. 

Such were the lingering effects of the virus that Chimaev, 27, announced that he was walking away from the sport, only to reverse that decision after a reported pep talk from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

With his health seemingly restored, the Swedish-based Chimaev has laid out typically grandiose plans to make four trips to the octagon in 2021, starting in August and alternating between contests at welterweight and middleweight.

Chimaev has competed at both weights in his three UFC fights to date, picking up two victories at 185lbs and one at 170lbs – all in equally impressive fashion.

For his next octagon outing, 'Borz' already has a name in mind, calling out welterweight veteran Neil Magny, who last weekend earned a gritty decision win over Geoff Neal – Magny’s 18th victory in the UFC’s 170lbs ranks. 

Asked this week about a Chimaev-Magny match-up, UFC boss White signaled it was a fight which could happen this summer, should things fall into place.

“It’s not a fight where I’m like, ‘Oh God I’ve gotta make this fight.’ But, you know, Khamzat’s probably going to fight this summer, come back this summer, so we’ll see who’s available and what makes sense,” White told ESPN.

When informed of the unbeaten Chimaev’s grand plans for an assault on both the welterweight and middleweight ranks with four fights in the space of five months, White said it was entirely feasible considering what the Russian-born star has done before.  

“I like that, I’m in,” White said. “Look at what he did on Fight Island [winning two fights in 10 days].

“I mean, he’s obviously capable of doing stuff like that. But ever since that happened, the guy’s had an incredible bad luck streak.”

Chimaev and avowed fan White will both hope that streak of misfortune is now firmly behind the Chechen sensation, as he plans to renew his assault on two fronts in the UFC ranks.