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On UFC fight night 174, the eyes of the MMA fans were on a middleweight showdown between Robert Whittaker and Darren Till. But the hardcore fans of the UFC were keen to see a man named Khamzat Chimaev. The 26 year old was barely a one fight old fighter on the UFC roster, but he was stepping inside the cage for a second time in just 10 days, that too after dropping to welterweight from middleweight. Chimaev then shocked the world when he finished Rhys McKee via a 1st round by TKO. And with that an unknown entity barely two weeks earlier captivated the MMA word and on his way to stardom.
So who is Khamzat Chimaev?
BACKGROUND
The 26-year-old was born in Chechnya in Russia, not too far from Dagestan, the home of UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. He left a war torn Chechnya for Sweden at the age of 19. Chimaev bears the nickname 'Borz', which means the wolf in Chechnya and considering his way about inside the cage, the nickname is truly justified.
Before signing for the UFC, Chimaev was 6-0 in a MMA company named BRAVE CF in the middle east. On March 2020, he was declared Swedish Breakthrough Athlete of the year.
Chimaev didn’t had to look to far for inspiration. The All Star Training Centre in Stockholm, where he trains is home to some of the legends of the sports. From former UFC lightweight and now heavyweight Alexander Gustafson to former Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard, Chimaev get to see how to rise above the clutter and be a great mixed martial artists first hand.
UFC CAREER SO FAR
On July 16, 2020, Chimaev made his UFC debut against John Phillips at UFC fight night 172 in Abu Dhabi. A 2nd round submission win via a D'Arce choke against the fellow middleweight Phillips and his hunger to get back inside the cage again landed him another fight at UFC fight night 174 against Rhys McKee but this time in the welterweight division. So on July 26, Chimaev stepped inside the octagon again and this time he won by a 1st round TKO.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR CHIMAEV
With 192 shots landed and just 2 absorbed in his first two fights In UFC, Chimaev barely got touched by his opponents till now. And with a 8-0 record with 4 T(KO) and 4 SUB, he is a man who can do it all inside the octagon. Apart from dominating his opponent inside the octagon, Chimaev has been busy calling out superstars of the sport. From champions Israel Adasanya (Middleweight) and Kumaru Usman (Welterweight) to Jorge Masvidal and Conor McGregor, Chimaev says he is ready to smash anyone in his path to glory.
So a new hype train has arrived in the UFC, from Stockholm, by the way of Chechnya. Chimaev is here to carry on the Russian domination in UFC and follow the footsteps of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan.
