Aaron Pico recalls training with Khamzat Chimaev while lauding 'Borz' for his "kind and respectful" attitude: "He's a gentleman"

Aaron Pico recently shared his thoughts on training with Khamzat Chimaev ahead of UFC 319, and heaped praise on the Chechen-born fighter for his gentlemanly persona.

Chimaev is set to challenge Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight title in the main event of UFC 319 this weekend. Meanwhile, Pico will make his promotional debut against Lerone Murphy in an exciting featherweight bout in the co-main event. In the weeks leading up to their fights, Pico and Chimaev notably linked up for their training camps under the tutelage of coach Sam Calavitta in California.

In a recent interview, Pico reflected on his experience training with Chimaev and lauded the Chechen-born grappling maestro for being "a gentleman" always. He said:

"It was just an honor to train with him. His aura, his mindset, is similar to mine, and the fact that you're always trying to be the best... Long story short, when it came time to compete against each other, we were going hard. He didn't want to lose, and I didn't [either]."

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Pico continued:

"One thing I do wanna say... people are scared of him, but he is really one of the nicest humans I've ever met. Kind and respectful to everybody. People wanna take a photo with him, he is not bothered... He's a gentleman and very kind. I thought that was really cool, and I have a lot more respect for him after seeing that."

Israel Adesanya predicts Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev title fight at UFC 319

Israel Adesanya recently shared his thoughts on the Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev title fight and issued his preview of the UFC 319 showdown. The former middleweight champion believes Chimaev has "shown his hand" in his previous outings and that du Plessis has an edge.

In a recent YouTube video (via @ChampRDS on X), Adesanya broke down the du Plessis-Chimaev clash and said:

"Khamzat, from what we know, has already shown his hand. He's going to go after [du Plessis] from the get-go. About DDP, I think he'll weather the storm and probably finish Khamzat later on because Khamzat, if it goes to Rounds 3, 4 or 5, it's gonna be a problem for him. It's a problem if it gets to Round 5. I say Round 3 or 4, DDP. If its' Khamzat, it's going to be Round 1. It's going to be impressive, it's going to be spectacular, it's violent. But yeah, I'm gonna go with DDP. I think he's going to get it done. He's stubborn. I'm gonna go with Dricus by TKO."

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Edited by Nishant Zende.