Khamzat Chimaev wants to return in August, calls out Neil Magny

Khamzat Chimaev has announced when he wants to return to action and has also called out a potential opponent in the process. Per Chimaev’s own tweets, the dual weight competitor has stated he wants to compete in August, September, November and December of this year, switching between 170lbs and 185lbs.

The tweet, which can be seen below, was posted after the events of UFC on ESPN 24. Khamzat is clearly wanting to be as active as possible after a short lived retirement following lingering COVID-19 symptoms earlier this year. At the time, UFC President Dana White came under fire from fans and media after denying Chimaev would be retiring, despite the athletes own post regarding the situation.

In an interview with MMA Junkie, White stated Chimaev was being ”emotional” as he was unable to train due to not following medical advice.

“When he got here, the doctors took care of him, and they put him on prednisone which is a nasty f***ing steroid. He’s supposed to be taking this thing and be chilling, relaxing, and letting himself recover. He went in and f***ing trained today, felt like s***, and got super emotional and posted that.” White continued: “He’s not supposed to be training, but you know, this guy’s a savage. He wants to fight like every f***ing weekend, and now he can’t even train, so he just got emotional and posted that, but he ain’t quitting.”

It seems the boss was right all along and Khamzat Chimaev doesn’t just have a time frame for his return, but also seems to have cherry picked his opponent. Prior to the tweet above, Khamzat named #9 ranked welterweight Neil Magny his next opponent. This isn’t the first time Chimaev has called out Magny on social media as he did once before back in May.

Fans are eagerly anticipating an announcement of some sorts, last time fans thought they would see Chimaev compete was against Leon Edwards but COVID-19 had other plans for the fight. Are you excited for the return of Khamzat? And do you think a fight with Neil Magny is what the UFC brass will be booking? Let us know down below in the comments section!