Khamzat Chimaev still doesn’t have a scheduled fight because he doesn’t want to risk potential welterweight contender status, reigning UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira said.
“If he was really ready, I would have accepted this fight,” Sportskeeda quotes the Brazilian. “He’s been talking about middleweight and light heavyweight fights not too long ago, but at his weight, he might already be the next title contender.”
“He could fight in his weight class, but why doesn’t he do it? Here is my version: if he loses at welterweight, it will destroy all the hype around him. If he loses his weight, what is he going to say to middleweights and light heavyweights? He avoids fighting in his division because he’s the next contender for the title.”
A few days earlier, Alex Pereira said he planned to return to the octagon in April or May, suggesting that Israel Adesanya or Robert Whittaker could become his opponent.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/30571-aleks-perejra-chimaev-izbegaet-boev-v-svoem-divizione.html?rand=19907
