Khamzat Chimaev is apparently about to trade the octagon for the mats, at least for one night. Sherdog and Yahoo Sports both report that Chimaev and Jorge Masvidal are set for a submission only grappling match on December fourth at The Agenda in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with the bout expected to headline ALF League's first ever event. Ag Fight corroborates the booking as well, noting that Chimaev's calendar outside the UFC has stayed busy.
For Chimaev, this is another side venture while his UFC situation sits in an unusual spot. Our tracker shows him ranked number one at middleweight, but his most recent octagon appearance did not go his way. He lost a split decision to Sean Strickland, and our Elo model has him sitting at one thousand five hundred forty nine across a four fight sample, a number that reflects how thin his actual run of data still is relative to his ranking.
Masvidal, meanwhile, has long treated grappling exhibitions and side projects as part of his brand, and lining up against Chimaev gives ALF League an immediate headline act for a promotion nobody had heard of before this week. A submission only rule set means there is no judges' scorecard to hide behind, just a finish or nothing, which tends to produce either a tense feeling out process or a quick tap.
Fans are already weighing in on the matchup over on r/MMA, where a thread dedicated to the December fourth booking has people picking apart what a grappling only version of this rivalry might look like. Nothing about Chimaev's UFC future changes because of this, but it keeps him active and in the headlines while the promotion sorts out what comes next for him inside the cage.