Khamzat Chimaev | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Will UFC 319 be the last time Khamzat Chimaev fights?

Back in 2020, Chimaev burst onto the UFC scene, winning three fights in just two months, immediately raising talk that Chimaev was a future champion. Unfortunately, that’s yet to happen. While “Borz” remains undefeated, a protracted battle with COVID and various injury and illness setbacks have stymied his meteoric rise. Next month, though, Chimaev will finally get his title opportunity when he challenges Dricus du Plessis for the UFC middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 319. And middleweight rival Caio Borralho believes that could be the end.

“I heard somewhere, some people saying that if he wins the belt, he’s gonna retire,” Borralho told MMA Today. “And I think so. There’s some little talks, some whispers about that. If he wins the belt, he retires. I’m not sure of that. I don’t know if I believe that or not, but it’s an option. There’s too much pressure on him. Health problems and a lot of pressure from his country. I don’t know. Maybe he retires, maybe not. He has a lot of money already. A lot of money — he’s good with money. So there will be no something that’s going to make him want to fight. He’ll already be champion, so why not retire? I would do the same. I would do the same if I was him, with his money that he has.”

Of course, for any of this to happen, Chimaev first has to win. But Borralho believes that’s the most likely outcome at UFC 319.

“It’s hard to bet against Dricus, because I always lost, but here’s the thing about this fight, I think it can be as fast as the Whittaker fight,” Borralho said. “First round, two or three minutes, over. I think it can be very, very fast.

“But maybe if the fight goes longer, after the second round, the third, I think Dricus is too strong, hard to maintain on the floor. If Chimaev has some trouble to maintain him on the floor or does a lot of strain and wastes a lot of energy with that, three more rounds against Dricus when you’re tired? It’s a f*cking nightmare. So maybe the fight gets better to Dricus in the third, fourth, and fifth round.

“I don’t think Chimaev is going to just give up. He’s going to fight. He’s a very proud guy. He’s going to fight until the end, until the death, but I don’t think he’s going to be as dominant as the first two rounds.”

UFC 319 takes place on Aug. 16 at United Center in Chicago.

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VIDEO STEW

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FINAL THOUGHTS

UFC Nashville is … it’s there. But Taylor v. Serrano 3 tonight on Netflix should be a banger. The other two fights sure were.

Have a good weekend. Love y’all!

EXIT POLL

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