5 reasons why Khamzat Chimaev might be the next welterweight champion

#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.

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#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.