A Recap, To The Rise Of Young Borz To Top 3 Welterweight And A Glance On His Future Prospects
King Borz
From the plains of Chechen, Benuyurt came not a man but a wolf. With spry legs and a deep howl, he made a vow to become the greatest, to become King. He promised to be the greatest to ever join the martial arts world and become the most lethal fighter ever to grace the octagon.
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – APRIL 09: Khamzat Chimaev of Russia prepares to fight Gilbert Burns of Brazil in their welterweight fight during the UFC 273 event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on April 09, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
His journey is a somewhat obscure one still, with elements still coming into light about his more personal life though his rise to fame is now solidified. The hype is real. He performs exactly like advertised. His name is Khamzat “Borz” Chimaev, The Wolf, King Smesh.
The Catalyst
Khamzat Borz Chimaev Verses Gilbert Durinho Burns happened last Saturday and Colby “Chaos” Covington seems to be next in the Chechens’ hunting grounds, but how did Khamzat get here, who has helped him reach UFC welterweight rank 3 and what does all of this mean for the young Borz?
UFC 267 Verses The Leech
At UFC 267 the Young Wolf manhandled his prior challenger, Li Jingliang, “The Leech”, ranked 11 back in October last year. Since then he became a very public personality with his Borz YouTube channel launch and the BlockAsset promotion. The AllStars Gym has seen gladiators from all over Europe come and test the might of King Borz and the Smesh Bros.
Training Partners
AllStars Training Center Sweden had fighters like Guram Kutatelaze, Selman Berisha, Reza Madadi, Michel “Bane” Ersoy and many more in preparation for Gilbert. Not to mention Khamzat had been training his striking at Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand and improving his Cardio at Las Vegas with his team prior to last Saturday.
Darren The Gorilla
Khamzat Chimaev was also joined in Sweden by Darren “the Gorilla” Till who himself had been working on his grappling and Jiu Jitsu in Brazil. Darren was coming off a string of under-performed fights and, coming to the AllStars, has been assisting him in his own wrestling and improving upon his confidence and mentality. Both him and Borz together were (and are) a hilariously wild bromance together, pushing each other forward simultaneously and helping each other improve their skills.
The Mauler
Apparently the only person giving Khamzat any adversity in his own wrestling had been Light Heavyweight top contender Alexander Gustafsson. Gustafsson had fought for the belt many times and had been passing on his experience to the Wolf who was usually a whole 13 kg lighter than the retired “Mauler”.
Finfou
Khamzat has Grappling Coach Alan “Finfou” Do Nascimento and Muay Thai Coach Joakim Karlsson both who have been training him to avoid any and everything Durinho would have to offer. Khamzat himself is a “Finfou” Purple Belt (since the Gilbert Burns fight, he was a blue belt before) and is as, if not more, technically savvy on the ground as he is with his striking.
Training Sessions
With the backing of his coaches, sparring and training companions and of course his friends, Khamzats Head coach Andreas Michael has been pushing him through a rigorous training regime. From running up desert hills and mountains in Las Vegas with weights and boulders to gruesome ground games on the mats of AllStars.
Khamzat being one of the dudes that lived in the gym he trained at, never tires of staying motivated and motivating others along the way. He’s relentless when it comes to his sets and more than often pushes his teammates to go for more than the targets they set and achieve more than they themselves believe.
UFC 273 Verses Durinho
Khamzat versus Gilbert Burns was a spectacular fight with both fighters showing amazing talent and willpower. Both fighters canonically “Smeshed”, took punches and dealt them out. After the fight was over both fighters completely let go of all the trash talk and hugged each other, with words of confidence, willpower and belief being exchanged between the two brutally bloodied performers.
Have you watched the greatest non-title fight in history? Read our round by round recap here or on the photo below.
Durinho was an obstinate obstacle in Khamzats path, he made it as difficult as possible to stop the steam rolling armored Borz during his rampage. 4 time Jiu Jitsu gold medalist and world champion Gilbert Burns has gone on to say that he wants a five round rematch despite being very pleased with the performances inside the ring.
Khamzat himself has not taken any kind of break and has gone straight back to the gym, possibly for the first time seeing flaws in his own game. Right after the fight Khamzat went on to say in the octagon :
I didn’t know he was so tough…. I love you brother… I didn’t know he was strong in the beginning, but he did three rounds strong. He made me work brother, and I worked f— hard for it, for everything, but you know I never stopped my training. If I’m not injured. The guy did f—- good today” he went on to say “I’m happy, these things I’ve waited long for it. I did ten five fights, ten finishes, didn’t happen these things with me. Now I’m bloody, I’m tired, I feel a little pain. I f— love it.”
UFC 279: Versus Kevin “Trail-Blazer” Holland
Khamzat Chimaev Versus Kevin Holland was a firework masterpiece. Lots of unprofessional controversy and trash talking before the match but they managed to finally settle their disputes in the ring.
Though it was a quick and decisive match, we got to see so much skill from both fighters at the highest level. Khamzat showed why his wrestling is feared in Sweden and how deep those roots go.
Both fighters reluctantly touched gloves and referee Herb Dean started the match. As the round began Khamzat dove in for a takedown on Kevin and locked into a ruthless grapple hold around his waist. In response Kevin performed a series of Granby roles to break the hold and escape. However faced absolutely no luck getting away from the beast in Khamzat. Shortly after Khamzat gave Kevin just enough room to squeeze into D’arce choke. Before all the fans and Kevin knew it. It was over. Holland tapped out in the first round at 2:13.
The Aftermath
Names are being thrown around for Khamzats future. Before UFC 273 Dana White confirmed that Chaos himself, Colby Covington, would be next in line for the future of Borz.
Old rival Ikram Aliskerov from Brave FC has also requested time from the rank 3 contender. Ex-MMA fighter and promoter Chael Sonnen has also shed light on banter between Khamzat and Shavkat Rakhmonov, who may be a more balanced match up with Chimaev than most of which the UFC can offer, though without all the top ten hype. Nate Diaz also called out Borz saying he was the real fight. Khamzat himself has called out everyone under the sun but specifically with gold around their waists to be careful or join him in a ring.
That includes both current and previous Champions Kamaru Usman, Leon Edwards or Israel Adesanya who are optimistic about the emerging blood.
Though it’s important to note that the Young Wolf doesn’t care who we end up pairing against him, his priority is to fight anyone and everyone as often as possible. He too has brandished a few names around but doesn’t mind if none of them get matched up. Borz only cares to be in the ring. RDX supports Khamzat’s rise to the top of the food chain. We are extremely excited for his next fan favorite main event fight and wish him happy hunting.
