Everything You Need To Know About Khamzat Chimaev

Khamzat Chimaev might be the next UFC sensation. His start in the company has been explosive, winning three fights in under 100 days. What is crazier is that all those fights have been dominant wins for Chimaev. With a booking against Demian Maia on the horizon, Khamzat’s star power is on the rise.

He already has most top welterweights ducking him and is on pace to have one of the fastest climbs to a title picture. However, that is contingent on top fighters facing him.

But what about everything Chimaev has achieved before becoming this monster that no one wants to fight?

Chimaev was born in Chechyna, Russia, and started wrestling at the young age of five. However, he was a prodigious talent. Chimaev competed in the local Russian wrestling scene before emigrating to Sweden at 17. He became a national champion in Sweden at 92 kilograms in freestyle wrestling. He also competed in combat sambo and judo.

Chimaev got his start in MMA while training in Sweden. He became training partners with the likes of Ilir Latifi and Alexander Gustafsson. Gus called Chimaev one of the most skilled athletes he has ever seen in MMA.

Chimaev opened strongly in MMA. His first two professional fights were on the Swedish local circuit. However, they were enough for him to get noticed by Brave CF, a middle-eastern promotion. Chimaev won his debut against Marko Kisic by finishing his opponent with punches in the first round.

This led to a spot on the Brave CF card that fought in Hyderabad, India. Chimaev produced a 30-second knockout of Sidney Wheeler. He went on to face a sambo specialist in Ikram Aliskerov after that, winning that fight with a first-round KO.

Khamzat’s last fight in Brave saw him pull off a second-round submission of Mzwandile Hlongwa. This was only the second time Khamzat went to the second round, and also the second submission win of his career. He would leave for the UFC after this win.

Chimaev may have been an unknown commodity while fighting for Brave, but he has exploded onto the UFC. It started with a 10-day stretch that saw Khamzat first win via submission against John Phillips and then knock Rhy McKee out a week later in the first round. This became the quickest turnaround between wins for anyone in UFC history.

Chimaev then went one step further and booked a fight against Demian Maia in December. Maia is a former title contender in two divisions, so that is as legit a name to have on your resume as any. However, Chimaev double-booked himself by taking a fight against Gerald Meerschaert. That fight became a true launching point, as Chimaev knocked out GM3 with a single punch in the first 20 seconds of the fight.

Since then, Chimaev has been linked to big-name fights against the likes of Stephen Thompson and Leon Edwards. These are all top-ranked contenders, but the relatively inexperienced Khamzat isn’t a fight many are willing to take. He is low-ranked, so beating him doesn’t earn them any favors. However, losing to him can be a major setback.

Let’s see if this rising contender finds his place amongst the top of his divisions. Or he may just crash and burn like many before him. However, from what has been seen until now, Khamzat’s future is brighter than anyone expected.

There were cheers in the Renault garage as Daniel Ricciardo secured a P3 at the Eifel Grand Prix. Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul would be pleased with the cars’ progress in general.

However, their former partners, Red Bull, also showed them that they are still the best team after Mercedes as Max Verstappen secured a P2 finish, coming in barely 4.5 seconds behind race winner Lewis Hamilton.

Given Honda’s exit from F1 in 2021, Red Bull are now on the hunt for a new engine supplier. If they are unable to secure a deal with any other supplier, Renault would have an obligation to supply to the as far as F1’s rules are concerned.

Ahead of the race start, there were rumors that Red Bull bosses held a meeting with Renault’s CEO, Luca de Meo. It is possible they might have been discussing a potential engine supply deal for 2022 and beyond.

However, Cyril Abiteboul opined that the meeting was more of a meet-and-greet rather than a business discussion.

Speaking in the post-race interview, he stated, “Sorry to say that it was a neutral meeting. It was a sort of get to know each other. Because Luca de Meo, our CEO, has just joined Renault very recently.

“So it was the first time that they were properly meeting. You know, just a get to know each other meeting. Just like Luca de Meo is meeting lots of people in the paddock,” concluded Abiteboul on the topic.

It is no secret that Renault were a crucial cog in the wheel of Red Bull’s golden time when they won 4 championships from 2010 to 2013. But as time passed, they lost faith in the Renault engines.

Subsequently, Red Bull negotiated an agreement with Honda from 2019. That deal is set to run down until the end of the 2021 season.

Technical regulations state, that a manufacturer with the least number of partner teams must supply to a team if they cannot strike a deal with any other supplier.

And with Renault showing signs of improvement ahead of 2021, Red Bull may consider them as a viable option, if not one of the best that they have to choose from.

The trilogy fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder for the WBC heavyweight title looks unstable at this point. Thus, it can pave a path for several other heavyweights who are looking to get a crack at the title.

The heavyweight unit is stacked right now with several big names on the list. So it’s bizarre to think Tyson Fury would run out of opponents, especially when he has desired to unify the world heavyweight titles by going against Anthony Joshua.

It is no surprise that Fury vs Joshua has all the potential to be one of the biggest events in British boxing history.

However, former cruiserweight boxer Tony Bellew believes that Fury won’t be the hardest challenge for Joshua. Instead, he bills a rematch against Dillian Whyte to be more challenging for AJ.

Since Deontay Wilder is possibly out of Fury’s way, a title unification fight against AJ is on the charts. Although Fury is still undefeated, Tony Bellew believes that Joshua can land a stunner on him. Not only that, but he believes that there are a couple of boxers who have a chance against ‘The Gypsy King.’

Talking about it, Bellew said, “I think AJ does beat Tyson Fury, but he’s got six rounds to do it. If it goes past six rounds, I don’t think he beats Tyson Fury.

“To beat Tyson Fury you’ve got to be willing to jump on him and not care what’s coming back and I believe the only heavyweight in the world with the skill set, the speed and the accuracy who can do it is AJ.”

Meanwhile, Tony Bellew didn’t forget to credit Whyte for his achievements. Although Joshua knocked out ‘The Body Snatcher’ brutally in their first fight, Bellew claimed that the rematch can look different.

He said, “I may think AJ beats Fury, but I think AJ has real problems going in with Dillian Whyte in a rematch because styles make fights.

“Dillian will put pressure on AJ and he’ll probably trade. Because it’s so fierce between them with the rivalry and the domestic stuff, he’d probably get caught up in a war and that’d be wrong.”

Fans can expect some potential thrillers in the heavyweight unit shortly. However, nothing has been finalized for now. The matchups are still a fantasy and promoters need to make the fights happen for the fans.

Danny Green has come under a lot of fire for his crucial Game 5 miss. If he made that shot, the NBA season would have been over and the LA Lakers would be champions. However, he missed it and now we are hours away from Game 6. But there has been no respite for Green, who has been receiving death threats over his missed shot.

NBA players have understandably been more supportive. This included one of the most clutch shooters in the NBA, Damian Lillard. Dame has hit some game-winning shots in the Playoffs before. However, so has Green. Green is one of the best shooters in NBA Finals history. While this Finals series against Miami has been hard for him, he has an impressive pedigree in those moments.

Bro he just missed a shot. https://t.co/mcWzaKtWD5

— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) October 10, 2020

Lillard spoke to Hall of Famer David Aldridge, who revealed what Dame said to The Athletic.

“Danny Green is a 2x champion and has played with great players who have trusted him in big moments time and time again… he’s proven as a big shot maker at the highest level and on big stage… he just missed it. Great look that he missed. I cope with misses because I accept that with the big makes come big misses… and when you don’t accept that ‘it happens’ you sit in it and can become a head case… you just have to chalk (it up) to the game and move on.”

Green has to come out with a crazy performance in Game 6. While obviously he is cold this series and maybe shouldn’t try to over-extend himself, he also does need to remind people who he is. He dropped six threes in game three of the 2019 NBA Finals and is the only player from that series in the Finals this season. He is loaded with Finals experience and is one win away from his third championship.

Green is making $15 million a year because of his playoff abilities. While we are yet to see those this time around, that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Game 6 will be big for Danny Green only because of how severely it may impact his legacy if the Lakers go down in these Finals.