Chris Weidman Explains Why He Isn’t Fighting Khamzat Chimaev Next

Chris Weidman has an explanation as to why he won’t be fighting Khamzat Chimaev next.

Weidman expressed interest in a fight against Chimaev. The two were going back-and-forth on social media. Weidman said Chimaev needs to be humbled. The Chechen bruiser fighting out of Sweden fired back by saying he would smash Weidman in a fight.

Weidman appeared on Submission Radio and confirmed that he was offered a bout with Chimaev but he couldn’t take it due to a rib injury (h/t MMAJunkie.com).

“They offered me Chimaev. I said yes. Then I started getting really excited about it, and then I said, ‘Well, so I’ve got a little bit of a rib injury right now – a cartilage rib injury.’ And if you’re anybody who’s had that, it’s just a pain in the ass. You’ve got to be really careful with not re-injuring it or bothering it. So I’ve kind of got to work around that right now. So I told them, ‘I’m down to fight whoever at mid-January, but I really want that Chimaev fight,’ just because of everyone acting as if everyone is scared of him and all that. And to me, I always want to fight the best guys. And so if everybody thinks he’s that good, let’s see it.”

Weidman was last seen in action back on August 8. The “All-American” defeated Omari Akhmedov via unanimous decision. It was the former UFC Middleweight Champion’s first victory since July 22, 2017.

As for Chimaev, he has gotten his UFC run off to a blazing start. Chimaev has gone 3-0 under the UFC banner, with all three wins being finishes. In his last outing, Chimaev knocked out Gerald Meerschaert in 17 seconds.