Khamzat Chimaev gets brutally honest about death and mortality ahead of Dricus du Plessis clash: "Life is going really fast"

Khamzat Chimaev focused on doing good things before he meets God. Chimaev, a practising muslim, has candidly spoken about his thoughts on life and death, and approaches the topic with sincerity.

In a recent interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA, Chimaev spoke about his perspective on death:

"I believe in God, so I want to meet him as well. People are always talking about life. Life is going really fast, I'm already 31. I remember being 6 or 7 years old and it just feels like yesterday, you know. I believe in God so I want to do good things before I meet him. When you're not ready to die when it comes, you'll be scared. Maybe my thinking about that made me what I am today."

Check out Khamzat Chimaev's comments below (22:10):

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The good things Khamzat Chimaev hopes to achieve through money earned from fighting

While fighters strive for UFC championship status to solidify their legacy in the sport, Khamzat Chimaev's motivation to do good things before he meets God drives him to perform to the best of his ability.

In the aforementioned interview with Brett Okamoto, he mentioned that the UFC title itself does not hold the utmost importance to him. However, he values the financial opportunities that come with being the champion, which would allow him to provide a better life for his family.

Additionally, Chimaev highlighted the noble cause to which he wants to dedicate his resources:

"I want to have a belt and make more money to help somebody who needs it more. A lot of young guys who were helping me with [training], I hope they become better [fighters than me. I can see how I would want them to train. I see my younger self in the position they're in today." [24:07]

He added:

So, the fighting is not only for me. If I win the fight, I can give full help to 20-30 guys, enable them to go to Thailand, do a training camp there, or in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, or in the mountains... You need a lot of money to train the boys to achieve championship potential... If you do good things right now and then you met God, it will be good, you know. So that's why I'm doing good things, I need to do that." [24:52]

Chimaev will challenge Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight title in the main event of UFC 319 on Aug. 16. It will mark the first title opportunity of his UFC career. Chimaev is a betting favourite heading into the fight, primarily because of his aggressive wrestling. He has already stated the goal to win titles across three weight classes if he manages to dethrone du Plessis.