Khamzat Chimaev has turned his attention to Stephen Thompson.
Three days after his 17-second knockout of Gerald Meerschaert at UFC on ESPN+ 26, Chimaev (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) intercepted Thompson’s “first Twitter callout ever” and challenged “Wonderboy” to fight instead.
“We fighting next,” Chimaev wrote, on Twitter. “Let’s go, leave Leon alone.”
Earlier in the day, Thompson (15-4-1 MMA, 10-4-1 UFC) tweeted a challenge to UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards.
“All due respect (to Leon Edwards), which I have a lot for you, I have been saying I would like to fight you for a while now!” Thompson wrote. “It makes sense and would be a great matchup. I think that was my first Twitter callout ever. Man that felt weird.”
Chimaev doesn’t have his next fight officially set despite all signs pointing to the 26-year-old Swedish fighter taking on veteran Demian Maia after Meerschaert. However, UFC president Dana White indicated Saturday that might no longer be the case.
“I don’t know what I do with (Chimaev) yet,” White said. “He might fight before Maia and fight Maia, too. Maia’s not going to be ready in time for this kid.”
In his three UFC appearances, Chimaev has dominated his opponents en route to three first-round stoppages due to strikes. Prior to his win against Meerschaert, Chimaev defeated John Phillips and former Cage Warriors champions Rhys McKee and John Phillips.
Thompson, a former UFC welterweight title challenger, has not competed since November when he defeated Vicente Luque via unanimous decision. The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak.
Check out Chimaev and Thompson’s tweets in the Twitter thread below.
We fighting next lets go leave Leon alone https://t.co/iltFiK7Nrm
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) September 22, 2020
Khamzat Chimaev intercepts Stephen Thompson’s callout, challenges him to fight instead