Was Khamzat Chimaev banned from fighting in USA and did Donald Trump help UFC 319 star get into the country?
The undefeated phenom will challenge for middleweight gold in the main event of UFC 319 in Chicago early on Sunday morning.
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Standing between the 31-year-old wrecking machine and his dream of winning UFC gold is dominant champion Dricus Du Plessis.
Chimaev's Chicago clash with DDP will be his first outing on American soil since his first-round submission of Kevin Holland in September 2022.
His last two fights against Kamaru Usman and Robert Whittaker have both taken place in Abu Dhabi.
His absence from the States raised eyebrows and led many to wonder if he'd been banned from entering the country.
And according to veteran and internationally respected reporter Karim Zidan, Chimaev "partially" had difficulty entering the USA due to his "association" with Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov.
Chimaev is pals with Kadryov, who was sanctioned by the U.S State Department over multiple human rights abuses in December 2017.
And he's trained with Kadryov and his sons on multiple occasions over the years.
'Borz' responded to the claims about his eligibility to enter the US last October and was dismissive of suggestions he'd been banned from the country.
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He told Shakiel Majouri: 'I don't think [it would be a problem], there's a lot of s*** things [being said].
"I've been in the U.S., and can come to the U.S.
Khamzat Chimaev returns to training after brutally calling out Dana White over UFC 300 'broken promises'
"But, a lot of s*** things have happened in my life. Being sick, having surgeries.
"So that's why I've [not] been fighting [there] like before.'
He continued: 'So, Abu Dhabi being close to me, I'll fight here.
"I've been in England, I've been in the UK, the U.S., I'm going to go to Australia soon in December. I can be anywhere.
"So, I don't know who has a problem with me, and people say a lot of different things. I don't know.'
Chimaev added last week: "This wasn't my bad, wasn't my fault.
'Everyone knows I didn't have a Visa to the US. That's why I didn't fight [there].
"So now, Donald Trump, he heard, so we go for a fight."
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Chimaev's return to the US has undoubtedly coincided with the 2024 re-election of Donald Trump, a long-time friend of UFC bigwig Dana White.
Chimaev publicly rooted for Trump in the build-up to the 2024 Elections and admitted he'd have a better chance of competing in the States if he were to defeat Kamala Harris.
Trump got wind of the Russian's comments and hailed him as a "great fighter" on his Instagram story.
When asked about Trump's praise, he told Adam Zuba: "Everyone texted me 'Trump mentioned you'. Well, he's a big fight fan.
"The head of the Chechen Republic supports me so much, he's always there for me and roots for me.
'I'm not into politics, I don't want to say something abut this president or that president.
"We, common people, have no clue whats really going on in the world but I stand for peace.
"So if any President wants peace I'm with him on that.'
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