If the UFC wants to kick off it’s 2026 debut on Paramount/CBS with a bang, they’ll have to do it without the help of their middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.
Chimaev captured the 185 pound belt at UFC 319 by pinning Dricus du Plessis to the canvas in a dominant snoozer of a fight. After the win he called on the UFC to turn him around fast and put him on UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi. That obviously didn’t happen, and now it seems like we won’t see “Borz” back until April at the earliest.
“My return? After
Ramadan,” Chimaev told Adam Zubayraev in Qatar. “Right now I have a small operation on my foot. I’ll step away from training for a couple of weeks, heal my wound. So we’ll prepare for after Ramadan. Whoever they give me, that’s who I’ll face.”
Every year, Ramadan throws a big wrench into the UFC’s scheduling. The Muslim holy month runs from February 17th to March 19th in 2026, and most devout fighters shut down their training camps and turn down bookings rather than try to train through the day when they have to fast. That includes a lot of fighters from Russia and Dagestan including champs Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev.
Now we have confirmation from Chimaev that he won’t be able to fight in January or February due to his foot, and then March due to Ramadan. It’ll be at least April when he can return, which will make it eight months since his last defense. After arriving in the UFC and blazing through three fights in two months, Chimaev has had just three fights in the last three years.
For a guy who keeps talking about beating multiple challengers in one night and turning around quickly for another fight, that glacial pace doesn’t seem to be changing. And the middleweight division is poorer for it.
