If there was a UFC fighter arrival that could be equated to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s famous door destruction on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, Khamzat Chimaev would be that moment personified.
No one in MMA history crushed the competition to create a buzz and near-instant superstardom than Chimaev in the summer of 2020. “Borz” is a wrestling machine, holding six world championships in freestyle wrestling under the Swedish Wrestling Federation.
Born in Chechnya, Russia, Chimaev began training at age five before he moved to Sweden at 18 and continued his growth as a combat sports dynamo. Chimaev’s brother Artur had already relocated to the city of Kalmar, leading the future UFC star to follow in his footsteps. It took Chimaev many visits to gyms around the country before ending up at BK Athen, where he won his wrestling titles from 2015 to 2017 at 189 pounds and 202 pounds in 2018.
While wrestling had always been his main focus, achieving a 24-0 record in the discipline, Chimaev also dabbled in judo and combat sambo matches. The AllStar Training Center in Stockholm eventually became the primary gym for Chimaev, working alongside names such as three-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson.
Chimaev has been flawless throughout his career as a professional athlete. He is a title threat to UFC champions between 170 and 185 pounds. We expect him to be around for a long time with at least one of those belts around his waist. Like Conor McGregor who inspired him to start MMA as a 23-year-old, Chimaev talks the talk but has backed it up in stunning fashion.
Who Will Khamzat Chimaev Fight Next?
Chimaev’s next fight was scheduled against Robert Whittaker for June 22, 2024, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their middleweight bout was to be the main event of the UFC Fight Night.
However, the fight was scrapped in mid-June due to illness for Chimaev.
It would have been a great fight, but Whittaker was then booked for a fight with the surging Ikram Aliskerov.
Whittaker, 33, is the more seasoned fighter with a 26-7 career record. He’s coming off a unanimous decision win against Paulo Costa in his most recent fight at UFC 298 in February.
Known as “The Reaper,” the New Zealand-born Whittaker has 10 career knockouts and five submissions on his resume. He’s looked a bit shaky lately, however, losing two of his last four fights.
Whittaker is 6’0″ with a 73.5″ reach, making him slightly smaller and more compact than Chimaev (6’2″, 75.0″). He averages 4.57 significant strikes per minute with 45.83% accuracy, both of which are lower than Chimaev’s 5.72 and 70.43% marks.
Whittaker is worse at takedowns as well with a 0.81 takedown average and a 38.1% takedown accuracy compared to Chimaev’s 3.99 takedown average and 2.66 takedown average.
On paper, Chimaev seemed to have the upper hand in this matchup. He was listed as a -245 moneyline favorite at DraftKings.
Khamzat Chimaev MMA Record
Chimaev was an absolute menace over his first 13 fights, defeating all who stood in his way and finishing all but two. He has six knockouts and five submissions, with his most recent win coming via decision against Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 in October 2023.
Two fights before that, he went to war with Gilbert Burns, scoring a unanimous decision win. Even in more competitive affairs, Chimaev provides an epic showing and exhibits all-around MMA skills. The unanimous decision win against Burns was a 2022 Fight of the Year nominee. It proved that Chimaev could hang with the elite and even succeed in areas of danger like Burns’ feared grappling game.
Despite that year-end award indicating a competitive fight that could’ve gone either way, “Borz” earned comfortable 29-28 scorecards across the board, landing the better, more effective shots and out grappling Burns when the grappling commenced.
Perennial top-15 UFC contender Li Jingliang is the next-best name on Chimaev’s resume and fell victim in the same fashion as most others. Four seconds into the bout, Chimaev burst toward Jingliang’s legs, grabbing him like a vice-grip. Maneuvering to Jingliang’s back with a body lock, Chimaev picked up and carried his prey across the octagon with ease as he shouted to Dana White before slamming his opponent to the mat. Jingliang was pummeled and controlled into an eventual rear-naked choke submission.
The Jingliang win was a reminder of what Chiamev does best. In his first big middleweight task directly before dispatching “The Leech,” Chimaev blazed through Gerald Meerschaert with a one-punch knockout in 16 seconds. Generally a kill-or-be-killed type of fighter, the savvy submission artist Meerschaert wasn’t even granted an opportunity to truly test himself.
Regarding other notable 185-pound comparisons, Chimaev has a November 2021 freestyle wrestling match win over ranked middleweight contender Jack Hermansson. Chimaev outscored the Norwegian grappler eight points to none.
Before reaching the UFC, Chimaev put on an impressive showing against a future middleweight prospect on the roster, Ikram Aliskerov. Aliskerov has been wildly impressive in his own right, holding seven World Combat Sambo gold medals and only losing to Chimaev through his first 15 MMA fights.
Against “Borz,” Aliskerov kept the action on the feet early before getting dropped by a sharp jab. The knockdown allowed Chimaev to make his entry and get a hold of his adversary, battling for balance until separating and further working his underrated striking. Moments later, Chimaev timed a right uppercut that sent Aliskerov’s consciousness into another galaxy. Between that knockout and the Meerschaert starching, highlights don’t get much better.
Outside the Burns fight, Chimaev almost hasn’t been touched inside the UFC octagon. Collectively, Chimaev outstruck his first five opponents an impossible 255 strikes to two. Including Burns in the six UFC fights, Chimaev’s never been taken down while landing a collective eight takedowns with over 16 minutes of control time.
Odds for Khamzat Chimaev to Win a Belt
Chimaev’s unprecedented success and dominance highlight all the makings of a future MMA champion. Chimaev arguably hasn’t even hit his prime years yet. If he remains active, there could be no stopping him.
The UFC 279 blunder greatly threw off Chimaev’s trajectory toward the welterweight title. Had things gone according to plan in September 2022, “Borz” first career title opportunity could have come in the first half of 2023.
He’s an interesting choice for a bet to potentially end 2024 as a champion in the middleweight division. It appears Chimaev needs no more than one win to earn a title shot given how close he was at welterweight.
That said, it appears unlikely and you should probably avoid betting on him to hold a belt by the end of the year.
