Khamzat Chimaev’s manager has refuted a report claiming that the Chechen fighter is stuck in Russia without a passport.
The initial report, which emerged early yesterday via Brazilian media outlet Combate, stated that Chimaev’s passport had been confiscated upon his recent arrival in St. Petersburg, where he touched down en route to visit family in Chechnya.
While it’s true that Chimaev is indeed in Russia, it seems, if ‘Borz’ manager Majdi Shammas is to be believed, that he should have no qualms exiting the country.
With the UFC welterweight scheduled to appear at the premiere of Portuguese film “O Faixa Preta – The true story of Fernando Tererê” on October 6 in Brazil, time will tell if there is any truth to the original report.
The AllStar MMA roundup
- History: This Week in Combat Sports with ‘The Bane’
- Return: Casey O’Neill hints at March return, teases change in divisions
- Breakdown: Johnny Eblen doesn’t feel Alex Pereira possesses “crafty” Israel Adesanya’s kryptonite
- UFC Vegas 62: Brandon Davis: The fighter who scrapped his way back into the UFC on one good knee
- Breakdown: Islam Makhachev is like Khabib Nurmagomedov but with better striking, says Matt Frevola
The best of the rest
- ONE Championship reports record high $110 million in losses for 2021, $383 million in total – BloodyElbow.com
- Alexandre Pantoja to serve as backup fighter yet again for Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno at UFC 283 – MMAFighting.com
- Ex-UFC fighter Aspen Ladd signs deal with PFL – MMAJunkie.com
- Eddie Alvarez: Fighters who fail to explore free agency are killing themselves – BloodyElbow.com
- Oddsmakers have Bo Nickal as smaller underdog than Nate Diaz in potential future Khamzat Chimaev clash’ – MMAMania.com
The soapbox
McGregor fancies himself the goat:
Kayla Harrison eyes some fresh meat:
Arman Tsarukyan in camp at Tiger Muay Thai with Petr Yan:
Sodiq Yusuff wants Bryce Mitchell after rumours that Mover Evloev may be out:
Bo Nickal walks back his retirement statement:
Oliveira training for Islam:
Robocop is on the mend:
The morning view
Randy Brown recounts adversity in the build-up to UFC Vegas 61:
MMA On Point covers ten old bulls that were fed to the young:
Luke Thomas dissects Mackenzie Dern’s UFC Vegas 61 Performance:
Bellator light-heavyweight champ Cory Anderson opens up on the RSD couch:
Done deals
Wednesday
- Darren Till to fight Dricus Du Plessis at UFC282 on December 10th. (per Brett Okamoto)
- Cheyanne Vlismas to fight Cory McKenna at UFC Vegas 66 on December 17th (per Alex Behunin)
- Chase Sherman to fight Josh Parisian at UFC Vegas 64 on November 5th (per Nolan King)
- Hayisaer Maheshate to fight Rafa Garcia at UFC Vegas 66 on December 17th. (per Garcia’s management)
Tuesday
- Flyweight Champion Deiveson Figueiredo to fight Interim Champion Brandon Moreno at UFC 283 on January 21st (per Rodrigo Del Campo Gonzales)
- Ronnie Lawrence to fight Cameron Saaiman at UFC 282 on December 10th (per Mike Heck)
- Drakkar Klose to fight Mark O. Madsen at UFC Vegas 63 on October 29th (per Vegas Insider)
- Josh Parisian to fight Chase Sherman at UFC Vegas 64 on November 5th (per Nolan King)
Monday
- None to note
On this day in MMA…
On the 5th of October, 2019, Israel Adesanya unified his interim UFC Middleweight title at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia.
Adesanya faced Robert Whittaker in what was the Australian’s first official title defense, since winning the vacant belt in 2018. ‘Stylebender’ dropped Whittaker late in the first, but didn’t have time on the clock to full capitalise on the opportunity. It didn’t matter.
Midway through the second round, Adesanya caught Whittaker with a lethal counter left hook that knocked him down and out.
In the time since that bout Adesanya has notched five successful title defenses, one more over Whittaker by unanimous decision, and remains undefeated at middleweight. He’s set to face fierce kickboxing rival, Alex Pereira, in the Octagon at UFC 281 next month.
