Khamzat Chimaev’s rise in the UFC is nothing less than a fairytale. The Chechen fighter has only fought four fights under the promotion’s umbrella and is expected to take on #2 ranked Gilbert Burns in his next bout scheduled to take place at UFC 272: Alexander Volkanovski vs The Korean Zombie. Khamzat Chimaev took the UFC by storm when he recorded the quickest successful turnaround in ten days to record the quickest turnaround in modern UFC history.
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Soon after, Chimaev took on a credible middleweight contender in the form of Gerald Meerschaert and registered a scintillating KO win within 17 seconds of the very first round to secure his third straight win in 2020 inside the UFC Octagon. Chimaev would go on to dominate in his next fight as well returning to the UFC’s welterweight division against Li Jinliang. Chimaev won the fight with a first-round submission.
While the name Khamzat Chimaev has become a big name in the world of MMA, the Chechen-born Swedish fighter was not called Khamzat Chimaev always. The current middleweight and welterweight contender made his professional MMA debut under his real name. He later changed his second name to Chimaev as his career progressed.
What is Khamzat Chimaev”s real name?
Khamzat Chimaev’s real name is Khamzat Girikhanov. The Chechen fighter competed against Norwegian fighter Gard Olve Sagen in his first professional MMA bout. Chimaev is as dominant as it gets. He is undefeated inside the Octagon and raked in 9 straight wins to his name with three of those bouts coming inside the UFC Octagon. None of these bouts have gone to the judges’ scorecards with Chimaev winning six of those bouts via way of stoppage and three submission wins to his name.
Khamzat Chimaev fighting style
Khamzat Chimaev has earned the “Performance of the Night” bonus award in all his fights inside the Octagon. Needless to say, Chimaev is destined for glory. Chimaev heavily relies on his wrestling game to dominate his opponent.
However, that doesn’t mean he is scared of a dogfight. Chimaev’s incredible win over World Combat Sambo champion Ikram Aliskerob, where he knocked out the Russian fighter with a brutal uppercut is etched in the memory of every fight fan. The Spanish fighter’s striking power was on display in his last fight as well as he picked up the second quickest win in the middleweight division.
It will be interesting to see how he performs against a seasoned veteran in the form of Gilbert Burns at UFC 272. It’s safe to say, should he pick up a victory over Gilbert Burns, Chimaev could be next for the UFC welterweight gold.
