There appear to be no plans for Khamzat Chimaev to join Team Khabib despite the recent peace talks in the wake of UFC 280.
According to UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, the rising UFC star is not expected to join his team.
“We train in different clubs,” Makhachev told Russian state-run news agency TASS.ru when asked whether it was a possibility. “So far there have been no plans or negotiations on joint training.”
Following UFC 280, which saw Makhachev claim the UFC lightweight title following a submission victory against Charles Oliveira, a cageside scuffle ensued between Chimaev and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin, Abubakar.
The following day, Khabib appeared in a video alongside the two fighters involved in the scuffle and revealed that all parties involved had apologized and put the “nonsense” disagreement behind them.
“What happened yesterday does not show us well,” Khabib said in the video that has since been deleted from Abubakar’s Instagram. “Neither me, nor Khamzat nor Abubakar. To tell you the truth, we are tired of this nonsense. Here we are gathered together as brothers, we hugged and Inshallah I hope that in the future we will only gather and fight for good reasons.”
While Nurmagomedov publicly settled the conflict between his teammates and Khamzat Chimaev, it was Ramzan Kadyrov—the tyrant accused of well-documented human rights abuses, including forced disappearances, torture, summary executions, and war crimes—who seemingly mediated the dispute.
The Chechen dictator posted a screenshot on his official Instagram account that showed him on a video call with UFC star Khamzat Chimaev and Abubakar Nurmagomedov, the two fighters involved in a physical altercation following UFC 280. In the caption, Kadyrov proclaimed that the scuffle was a mere “misunderstanding” and that he resolved the dispute between the two fighters.
