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Khamzat Chimaev is the latest sensation in the UFC. A fighter with a frame suited for both welterweight and middleweight, the Chechen phenom has taken the promotion by storm. Behind him is a long line of supposed future champions who once seemed primed for greatness but ultimately fell short.
The likes of Sage Northcutt and Paige VanZant were once heralded as the next generation of MMA fighters and future champions. Rising bantamweight star Sean O'Malley is another such fighter who appears to possess the necessary skills to one day challenge for his division's title. Unfortunately, 'Sugar' has been unsuccessful in his attempts at facing top 10 bantamweights.
Khamzat Chimaev is a different beast altogether. After his thrilling war against Gilbert Burns at UFC 273, 'Borz' came to understand that in order to overcome the division's elite, he must ready himself for foes who will not simply roll over when faced with his fearsome combination of knockout power and wrestling. It is a lesson that Chimaev seems to have internalized. Thus, this list covers five reasons why Khamzat Chimaev is potentially the next welterweight champion.
#5. Khamzat Chimaev's frame
Standing at 6 feet and 2 inches in height, Khamzat Chimaev is a massive welterweight who eclipses nearly every single fighter in the division. In fact, 'Borz' is so large that he's even taller and possesses a longer reach than former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. While Chimaev's large frame might seem like a superficial reason for why he's a potential future champion, a glimpse at past UFC champions illustrates why it's a legitimate reason.
From the likes of Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Deiveson Figueiredo, Charles Oliveira, Kamaru Usman, Tyron Woodley, Jiří Procházka and Amanda Nunes, it is clear that most champions are often significantly larger than their opponents. Khamzat Chimaev is no exception to that rule. Being larger and more powerful than possibly every other welterweight in the division can only benefit him as he embarks on his highly anticipated title run.
#4. He possesses exceptional striking skills
While Khamzat Chimaev succumbed to what essentially became a toughman contest when he fought Gilbert Burns, the Chechen's striking is surprisingly polished for someone who is a lifelong wrestler. Chimaev has spent some time training with the likes of Rafael Fiziev and Petr Yan at Tiger Muay Thai, honing his striking skills. The surging welterweight contender exhibits commendable technique that at times he has even shown that he has one punch knockout power.
He constantly rotates his hips to generate as much power as possible when throwing punches, and he rarely overextends when throwing powerful punches. Furthermore, Chimaev tends to maintain a tight stance with his chin tucked when he marches forward, which renders him able to walk through most of the punches he absorbs. For this reason, he was able to withstand many of the strikes thrown by Burns, a powerful puncher in his own right.
In terms of his footwork, Khamzat Chimaev also works to place his lead foot on the outside of his opponent's, aligning them with his right hook, which he often throws closer to his chest for a more linear and accurate trajectory. However, 'Borz' is not merely a puncher, he is also a crafty kicker who uses it to create openings for his takedowns, as the next entry will describe.
#3. He is a powerful wrestler
Khamzat Chimaev is a highly experienced wrestler. As a three-time national champion in Sweden's freestyle wrestling world, his foundation as a wrestler will serve him well in a division dominated by relentless wrestlers like Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. To impose his powerful wrestling, Chimaev must do as all wrestlers do, i.e., create an opening for his takedowns in order to avoid anti-wrestling sequences or intercepting uppercuts and knees.
To do so, 'Borz' sometimes uses kicks. The kicks vary from round kicks to front kicks. When throwing front kicks, he forces his opponents to straighten their posture, causing them to stand tall when the kick lands. This leads to them narrowing their base, rendering them ill-equipped to defend his follow-up takedown.
However, when Chimaev throws round kicks to the body, the effect is different. The Chechen's round kicks are powerful, so when he raises his leg to fake the kick, his opponents square their hips to load up a counterpunch. Once his oppomnent commits to the counterpunch and swings, Chimaev ducks under the punch to secure an easy takedown. While there is more to Chimaev's wrestling and takedown setups, that necessitates an article of its own.
#2. Khamzat Chimaev's grappling
Khamzat Chimaev is a force to be reckoned with on the ground. Upon completing takedowns, 'Borz' immediately establishes control to prevent his foes from working their way back to their feet. Among the many tools at his disposal are wrist-grips and triangling his opponent's legs. Against opponents who roll onto their stomachs to push back up to their feet, Chimaev quickly wraps his legs around the leg they intend to push off of.
He then secures a body lock, leaning forward to force all of his weight and his foe's weight onto their arms. Before long, his adversaries' arms are exhausted, not only rendering them unable to return to their feet as effectively, but also rendering them less effective at fighting off his chokes with their arms burnt out. He also secures his opponent's wrist, tugging the caught arm under their torso to pin it under their combined weight.
All the while, 'Borz' threatens chokes while battering his foes with punches and elbows whenever they're preoccupied with the intricacies of his positional grappling.
#1. He has youth on his side
Whether Khamzat Chimaev will be the welterweight division's next champion now or later is up in the air. However, as a 28-year-old, the Chechen has nothing but time on his hands. His recent bout with Gilbert Burns was a learning experience and will likely impart a set of valuable skills in the rising welterweight contender. As a fairly young fighter, he has ample time to improve and sharpen his overall game.
Furthermore, when compared to most of the fighters in his division, Chimaev is in his physical prime, enabling him to fight while sustaining fewer injuries that are more likely to compromise fighters in their mid-to-late thirties such as Kamaru Usman, who recently recovered from a broken hand, and Colby Covington, who claims to have suffered a series of injuries due to Jorge Masvidal's off-cage assault.
While older fighters are nursing injuries, Chimaev will be hard at work, training and improving to become the next welterweight champion, whether that'll be after his expected win over Nate Diaz at UFC 279 or at a later stage in his career.
