It’s fair to say that Khamzat Chimaev’s output has slowed somewhat recently.

The unbeaten (now) middleweight fighter burst onto the scene on Fight Island in the summer of 2020, winning his first two fights (in two separate divisions) in just a couple of weeks, adding a third just a couple of months later. Since then, though, ‘Borz’ has competed just four times in close to 3.5 years but was most recently seen in October scoring a shut-out win against Kamaru Usman at 185-pounds in Abu Dhabi.

But as he nurses an injury to his right hand, Chimaev has said via MMA Crazy that he will undergo surgery shortly — but isn’t ruling a return in April’s bumper UFC 300 card.

“I’m going to do surgery, [an] operation in one, two weeks, after that [I’ll] do the recovery, come back, smash somebody,” Chimaev said.

And when asked if UFC 300 might be a realistic option, Chimaev responded in the affirmative. “Tell Dana White, make that happen,” he said.

Chimaev’s comprehensive win against Usman a couple of months back was his most high profile yet in the UFC and came 13 months after a win against Kevin Holland, which saw him spend just over two minutes in the cage.

Now a card-carrying member of the middleweight division, a title shot seems a realistic possibility — but only, one would suspect, if he is able to display a capability of competing a bit more regularly.