Khamzat Chimaev hasn’t competed in the United States in nearly three years due to visa issues but that all changes when he fights for the middleweight title at UFC 319 in Chicago and he believes that’s probably all due to President Donald Trump.
The undefeated Chechen mauler, who faces Dricus du Plessis in the main event on Aug. 16, has struggled to travel into the U.S. in recent years with his past two fights taking place in Abu Dhabi. Chimaev’s ties to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who was heavily sanctioned by U.S. officials in 2020 for “gross violations of human rights” effectively made traveling to the U.S. almost impossible.
That changed ahead of his fight in August with Chimaev actually spending a big part of his training camp in California as he prepares for his first opportunity to become UFC champion.
“This wasn’t my bad. This wasn’t my fault,” Chimaev said about not fighting in the United States during an open workout interview with MMA Fighting on Wednesday. “Everyone knows I didn’t have the visa to the U.S. That’s why I didn’t fight only once in Abu Dhabi. So now Donald Trump is here, we go for a fight.”
Of course, UFC CEO Dana White maintains a very close working relationship and friendship with Trump after first partnering together over 20 years ago to bring fights to his hotels in Atlantic City, N.J. White has remained an outspoken supporter for Trump ever since his first term as president started in 2016 and spent even more time backing him ahead of the 2020 election.
Trump has also made numerous appearances at several UFC events in recent years.
In fact, Trump also announced plans to host a UFC card at the White House in 2026 as part of his planned celebration for America’s 250th birthday. While details are still coming together, White has stated that his team at UFC are already putting together logistics for the historic event, which would likely take place around the July 4 holiday.
For his part, Chimaev doesn’t actually believe he would be welcome on that White House card despite receiving his visa to travel and work in the U.S.
“Look at my face. I don’t think so,” Chimaev said with a smile when asked about fighting at the White House. “They [would deport me] to an immigrant camp or whatever. I’m an athlete, a sportsman, all my life I’ve been training. Some people put me in a position like political shit and break my visa down and I don’t know why. I’m just doing for my family — fighting, training. Athletes don’t have to be with politics. I’m not connected.
“If somebody wants to meet me, I never say no. Why should they do that? It’s putting a lot of athletes in a bad position with this. This is a sport that [brings] all the guys together, [brings] all countries together but they want to do some different ways. I don’t know why. I would be happy if they give me a fight there but I don’t think so.”
Despite his ties to Kadyrov over the years, Chimaev had consistently downplayed his interest in politics and that includes whatever discourse is unfolding in America.
If anything, Chimaev would prefer to keep politics out of sports, which is why he was admittedly confused about the UFC doing an event at the White House in the first place.
“I don’t understand why they’re going to put the fights over there,” Chimaev said. “I don’t understand. Why politics are used with sports together. I don’t know.”
