Despite his impending sidelining through a hand injury, unbeaten middleweight contender, Khamzat Chimaev is the current betting favorite to be strapped with divisional gold at the end of next year, coming in as a favorite over incumbent titleholder, Sean Strickland, and former champion, Israel Adesanya.
Chimaev, the current number eight ranked middleweight contender, most recently co-headlined UFC 294 back in October of this year in Abu Dhabi, landing a close, majority decision win over former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman in his return to the weight class.
The victory came as Khamzat Chimaev’s first since September of last year, landing a dominant opening round D’Arce choke submission win over Kevin Holland, after missing weight for a planned welterweight main event against Nate Diaz by a staggering seven and a half pounds.