Khamzat Chimaev's heavyweight teammate Ilir Latifi details training with 'Borz' (Exclusive)

Khamzat Chimaev's teammate Ilir Latifi has opened up on what's it like to train with 'Borz'.

UFC heavyweight Ilir Latifi recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA originals. While discussing a variety of topics during the interview, Latifi described training with Khamzat Chimaev.

Latifi recalled the time when 'Borz' first came to his gym to train in the early days of his career. While suggesting that the UFC welterweight surprised everyone with his talent and determination despite having no past MMA experience, Latifi said:

"Khamzat was like, a couple of years ago when he first came down to the gym, me and Alex [Gustafsson] were both contenders for the light heavyweight division and we were like preparing for big fights, you know? I see this skinny guy come down to the gym and we took him in you know, and he started training with us and we were like, 'Wow, this guy is good'.

"Like he had no MMA experience, nothing he was just a wrestler but, we just saw the raw talent and dedication in him very early. You know, the rest is history the guy is..the world hasn't seen how good he really is."

Watch the interview below (6:58):

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Dana White reveals why Khamzat Chimaev has been absent from UFC in 2023

Khamzat Chimaev has been out of action for a while now. He was last seen in action against Kevin Holland in September 2022. Since then, 'Borz' has been rumored to fight a number of people, however, none of those fights have come to fruition yet.

Speaking about Chimaev's absence from the octagon. UFC president Dana White revealed that he has been occupied with issues in his personal life. During an interview with combat sports journalist Aaron Bronsteter, White said:

"That's on him though, he's got stuff going on his personal life. That's not because we're not getting him a fight, obviously you know how it goes here, I talk about this all the time, we have to get guys three fights a year. So if we don't get guys three fight a year we have to pay em. The only way that wouldn't happen, they have personal stuff going on."

Watch the video below (17:55):

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