UFC star Khamzat Chimaev has made an official challenge to Nate Diaz for a showdown this summer.

Anyone who’s been paying attention will know that Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz aren’t big fans of one another - or, at least, that’s how it comes across on social media.

Diaz has just one fight left on his current deal with the UFC and a parade of names have been thrown around regarding who will send him off. In the end, though, it may wind up being the heavily rumoured opponent that has been linked with the Stockton king for months - Khamzat Chimaev.

‘Borz’ is coming off the back of a mammoth win over Gilbert Burns that vaulted him straight into title contention at 170 pounds. At the same time, though, with Kamaru Usman preparing to defend the strap against Leon Edwards on August 20, the Chechen sensation wants to stay as busy as he possibly can.

That’ll likely mean he has to win one or two more fights in order to finally fight for the championship and as per the man himself, he has a few different foes in mind as we continue through the early stages of the summer.

“August @NateDiaz209. October @bullyb170”

The proposed Belal Muhammad fight in October was seemingly agreed to by both parties during a recent Twitter exchange, whereas for the Diaz bout, it’d probably end up serving as the co-main event or featured match-up on the same UFC 278 card as Usman vs Edwards.

Money or power?

The obvious money fight in this scenario is Nate Diaz, given his status as one of the biggest names in mixed martial arts. So, if Chimaev is after a big payday, that’s probably the best route to go down.

On the flip side of things, facing Belal Muhammad is going to be what gets him closer to the title shot.

Even then you could make the argument that there are better fights out there for him, with the biggest being an official number one contender eliminator with Colby Covington being the one standing across the Octagon from him.

The options, quite literally, are limitless.