Chimaev to face Masvidal in submission-only match in Dubai on Dec. 4, report says

Khamzat Chimaev will face Jorge Masvidal in a submission-only grappling match in Dubai on Friday, Dec. 4, FightTime reported on Sunday. FightTime says it will headline the first ALF League show. It isn't an MMA fight, so it won't count on either man's MMA record.

FightTime says the organisers announced the match officially, but it doesn't name them and carries no quote from anyone. Bloody Elbow also reported it on Sunday, naming the venue as The Agenda and saying ticket details are still to come. We couldn't find a post from ALF or a word from either fighter, so we're treating this as reported, not official.

The feud

The two have been at this since at least May 2022, when Chimaev answered Masvidal's criticism in a Hustle MMA interview, BJ Penn reported. This March, Masvidal backed Sean Strickland to beat Chimaev on the Death Row MMA podcast. Chimaev commented "All three of you, same night" under the video on Instagram. Masvidal answered on YouTube that "you ain't gonna kill nobody by hugging anybody to death", EssentiallySports reported via Yardbarker.

He kept going on the podcast before Chimaev's title defence. "Yeah, you're a better wrestler, but that's not fighting," he said, MMA Junkie reported on April 8.

If this is pure submission-only, holding top position scores nothing. Chimaev has four wins in Real American Freestyle (RAF) this year. He pinned Dillon Danis and Tyron Woodley and beat Gilbert Burns and Robbie Lawler by technical fall. Neither route would count under those rules.

We still think he's the likelier man to get a finish. He has six submission wins in MMA, including Robert Whittaker in 2024, and has never been submitted. Masvidal has two, the last over Michael Chiesa in 2013, and was last submitted in 2009. The match has no odds on our site, and the numbers below cover UFC fights, not grappling.

Where they stand

Chimaev is 15-1. He won the UFC middleweight title in August 2025, then lost it to Strickland by split decision on May 9. That was his first MMA loss.

He closed as a -500 favourite that night. At the closing price, he's 7-1 for +0.86 units in his eight UFC fights with odds. He has no UFC fight booked and wants a Strickland rematch, according to NY Fights.

Masvidal, 35-17, retired after losing to Burns at UFC 287 on April 8, 2023, his fourth straight defeat. He was an underdog in all four, going 0-4 for -4.00 units. His last bout of any kind was a majority decision boxing loss to Nate Diaz on July 6, 2024.

He nearly did this on March 11, when he was booked for a submission-only match with Shara Magomedov in Rio, BJJ Doc reported. Wikipedia lists him as withdrawing for undisclosed reasons. He has done it before, in a charity jiu-jitsu match with Anthony Pettis on June 15, 2019, which was a draw after 10 minutes.

In August, he told MMA Junkie "I've been talking to the UFC" about a return, Sherdog reported. We haven't found a UFC fight for him since.

What's next

Chimaev has another match first. On Saturday, Nov. 14, he tries to take RAF's cruiserweight crossover title from Colby Covington, BoxingNews reported via Yardbarker. That's at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, 20 days before Dubai.

Masvidal has already lost to Covington, in March 2022. He also lost to Burns once and Kamaru Usman twice, and Chimaev beat both in the UFC by decision.

FightTime gave no time limit, weight or other rules for Dubai, so we don't yet know what happens if nobody taps.