“Borz” continues to train like a maniac as UFC struggles to find anyone at Welterweight or Middleweight to fight him.
Khamzat Chimaev may not have a fight lined up yet, but that hasn’t stopped him from training hard. The 170-pound contender is currently in camp at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand. And he’s looking like he may not stick around at Welterweight.
In a new video, “Borz” is looking bigger than ever.
The clip shows a massive Chimaev beating up on his training partner, going upstairs and downstairs with strikes before unloading a series of nasty looking hooks and finishing with an easy takedown. From there, he pummels the poor unknown fighter with some rough looking ground-and-pound.
He’s certainly not taking it easy on anyone who faces him in the gym. Take a look:
ain’t no way he makes 170 again pic.twitter.com/jB9W76eMbg
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) February 2, 2023
The video was released by rising UFC Flyweight contender, Muhammad Mokaev, who is now part of the “Smesh Squad” in Thailand alongside Chimaev, Darren Till, PFL tournament winner, Brendan Loughnane, and Bellator fighter, Kane Mousah.
Some killers linking up in Thailand
: Muhammad Mokaev pic.twitter.com/MxrgbrgiXT
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) February 1, 2023
Mokaev recently announced he has a new contract with UFC and a fight against Jafel Filho at the upcoming UFC 286 event in London, England, on March 18, 2023 . It’s not another step up the Flyweight ladder, but it keeps Mokaev active, which is clearly what the young fighter wants.
That’s also Chimaev’s desire: to stay active. But, he’s been having a really hard time getting anyone to sign on the dotted line. UFC President, Dana White, originally wanted to place Chimaev against Colby Covington in UFC 286’s co-headliner, but that obviously hasn’t materialized. And in a recent video, Khamzat complained about three fights on three different continents all falling through because opponents refuse to face him.
Adding to the confusion is Chimaev’s weight. He came in a ridiculous 7.5 pounds more than the Welterweight limit for his fight against Nate Diaz at UFC 279, prompting an unprecedented fight card shuffle that ended with him fighting Kevin Holland at a 180-pound Catchweight.
“Borz” dispatched Holland with ease via first round submission (watch highlights). Since then, the Chechen fighter hasn’t sounded too interested in struggling to stay in the Welterweight division, especially with the Middleweight title looking ripe for the taking?
First, he’ll have to get back in the cage and re-establish himself at whatever weight class he intends to stick around in. We’ll keep you in the loop as soon as any whisper of another potential opponent surfaces. Whether anyone will agree to actually fight Khamzat is the real question.