Khamzat Chimaev had a tough time with his career because of coronavirus, now he can get closer to a title shot. What’s his story?

Khamzat Chimaev will be in action this weekend at UFC 272, where he will be facing the toughest fight of his career. If he wins, he could move closer to a title fight. Meanwhile, he’s had a rough road in life and sport, even facing the end of his sporting career recently.

Chimaev had a difficult childhood because of the war

Khamzat Chimaev was born in Chechnya in 1994. As a child, he had to suffer a lot because of the war. Poverty and lack of food were not uncommon. He never wants to experience anything like that again.

“I don’t know why the war happened. People were killed… Why can’t we just live normally? If you grow up in something like that, you never want to see something like that again,” he expressed in an interview with ESPN.

But now he’s happy. In 2011, he and his family moved to Sweden, where he first gained refugee status, then acquired Swedish citizenship, which he understandably appreciates.

Chimaev didn’t start MMA until he was 23

Khamzat Chimaev started martial arts at the age of 5. As is customary in his region, he took up wrestling from a young age. And he was very good at it. He even won the Russian national championship.

He also used to fight a lot as a kid because of his temperamental nature. So being in the heat of battle was nothing special for him.

In 2018, when he had already lived in Sweden for several years, he managed to dominate the Swedish wrestling championship. By then, he had already had three amateur MMA fights.

Chimaev chose the best possible address for his MMA training when he started at the renowned and famous Allstars Gym

Chimaev then began training at the renowned Allstars Gym, where it’s not hard to come up against someone big. And that’s exactly what happened. The Chechen native showed tremendous potential and turned professional at the age of 23.

And after that, it went quickly. Within two years, he was in the UFC.

Chimaev became a star overnight

Khamzat Chimaev started his journey in the UFC in grand fashion. He entered the organization with a 6:0 record. He managed to win two very dominant fights in 10 days in June 2020, which of course made him a big name. Moreover, he had a very ambitious statement, he asked for attention.

He always wanted bigger and bigger opponents. So he got Gerald Meerschaert, who had beaten Makhmud Muradov the previous year, in the autumn of that year. But then the machine stalled.

The coronavirus nearly knocked Chimaev out of the game, but his comeback was phenomenal

The coronavirus pandemic has ruined many careers or lives. Khamzat Chimaev also had problems with the insidious virus. When he got sick, he had all sorts of symptoms. He had trouble breathing, especially at night. He had to be rushed to the hospital.

“After some time, he seemed to be fine and had no symptoms. Still, the UFC warned him that he couldn’t train because he was taking a lot of strong drugs. But he went to Xtrem Couture to spar, where he ended up coughing and spitting blood,” Chimaev’s coach Alan Nascimento revealed to MMA Fighting.

Understandably, fear set in. At the time, he was already aware of several cases where even elite athletes had succumbed to the coronavirus because they hadn’t followed treatment procedures. “At that point, he just hit rock bottom and was desperate. He came to the conclusion that it wasn’t worth it,” Nascimento said.

Chimaev even announced the end of his career, but eventually called it off and came back in style. In fact, he literally destroyed Jingliang Li in Abu Dhabi last October.

Will Chimaev get his title shot?

Khamzat Chimaev came back hungry. After his last win, he started challenging the biggest fighters. He’s not afraid of middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, and he’ll beat his weight class champion Kamara Usman. But that remains to be seen.

This weekend, Chimaev faces the toughest opponent of his career when he takes on welterweight number two Gilbert Burns. While the Swede is the favorite, Burns has given Usman trouble as well. He also has great BJJ, but he can also hit in the standup.

If Chimaev wins, there’s no doubt about Usman’s next challenger. Can he do it?

Source: UFC, ESPN, MMA Mania