Khamzat Chimaev starts Belal Muhammad beef with ‘pony’ jibe after Dana White’s title fight promise
Khamzat Chimaev has launched a surprise attack on UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad.
The number one middleweight contender was seemingly laser-focused on his upcoming title shot.
Khamzat Chimaev is due to face 185lb king Dricus du Plessis at a UFC pay-per-view event later this year.
Meanwhile, Belal Muhammad will defend his 170lb belt against Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC 315 main event on May 10 – but that hasn’t stopped him from exchanging shots with the 14-0 Russian on social media.
READ MORE: Khamzat Chimaev backed to surpass Khabib Nurmagomedov’s legacy by former UFC star
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesKhamzat Chimaev starts Belal Muhammad rivalryOn Tuesday, Chimaev shared a picture of a pony with his 800,000 followers on X.
“bullyb170 where are you going pony,” he wrote in Russian alongside the image.
The 30-year-old clearly meant to tag Muhammad, but he left off the @ sign needed to reach him.
Regardless, ‘Remember The Name’ quickly got wind of Chimaev’s confusing pony post.
Muhammad ignored the fact he’d been compared to a small horse and simply answered the question posed in a way that got fans excited about a potential middleweight title fight between him and Chimaev.
“Goin to middleweight,” he replied, with a picture of him wearing a ‘Muhammad vs Chimaev’ T-shirt.
Dana White provides Khamzat Chimaev title fight update Last week, rumors swirled about Du Plessis suffering an injury that would sideline him for six months.
Fans were gutted about his planned fight with Chimaev at UFC 317 on June 28 falling through.
However, Du Plessis quickly denied the ‘untrue’ rumors, insisting he was fit and ready to fight.
On Saturday night, UFC boss Dana White confirmed the UFC title fight everyone wants to see is official
“The Du Plessis vs. Khamzat fight, it’s happening,” he said after UFC Kansas City.
“It’s just not happening in International Fight Week…
“That fight’s done.”
