American presenter Chael Sonnen has gotten into the minds of UFC fans with one of his latest statements. He confirmed that the organization is now looking forward to set up a clash between two titanic stars of the competition, Khamzat Chimaev and Paulo Costa to star in the co-main event for UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The biggest news following last weekend\u2019s UFC 287 card in Miami was Israel Adesanya reclaiming the middleweight title and finally earning a victory over his rival Alex Pereira. The UFC could potentially be eager to book a third MMA bout between the two retired kickboxers at some point in the future, but for now, it appears the middleweight division is open for new title contenders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ariel Helwani was in conversation with Sonnen on The MMA Hour to reveal further information on the current state of the middleweight division following UFC 287, and Sonnen provided an interesting piece of update when asked about where Chimaev fits into the title picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, so my understanding is Khamzat is going to fight Paulo Costa,” Sonnen said. “They\u2019ve even got a date. They\u2019re gonna go out [to] Abu Dhabi, that\u2019s a co-main event \u2013 very relevant, they\u2019ll be there for three rounds instead of five \u2013 Islam [Makhachev] on the top of the bill. Now the relevance to Islam on the top of the bill is Islam\u2019s gonna fight the winner of Charles [Oliveira] and Benny [Dariush], and that\u2019s still three weeks away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If what Sonnen\u2019s claims turn out to be true and that matchup is being planned for UFC 294, it will finally provide some clarity on what weight class Chimaev is keen on competing in for the immediate future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n