Khamzat Khizarovich Chimaev[b] (born 1 May 1994) is a Russian and Emirati[16][17] professional mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler who competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Chimaev has had a series of dominant performances in the tournament, posting an overall record of 12–0, which includes three pins, seven technical falls and holds a combined score of 105 points, while only surrendering two himself, across all of his three showdowns.

[23] Chimaev competed against fellow UFC contender Jack Hermansson in a freestyle wrestling match on 19 November 2021, at Sweden-based Bulldog Fight Night 9, winning on points.

[33] In an interview with ESPN, Chimaev claimed he was inspired to start training in MMA during a night at work where he took a 15-minute break to watch the Aldo vs. McGregor main event.

The first of them was against future IMMAF World Champion Khaled Laallam, whom he defeated via submission in the second round.

[36] Chimaev turned professional on 26 May 2018, at International Ring Fight Arena 14, against Gard Olve Sagen.

[40] After having his first two professional fights in Sweden, Chimaev signed with Middle Eastern organization Brave Combat Federation.

[43] Chimaev had a quick turnaround for his next fight when he took on Sidney Wheeler on short notice on 22 December 2018, at Brave CF 20, replacing an injured Leon Aliu.

[52][53] However, the event would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the matchup was cancelled altogether when Chimaev signed with the UFC instead.

[54][55] Chimaev made his promotional debut in a middleweight bout against John Phillips, replacing Duško Todorović, on 16 July 2020, at UFC on ESPN 13.

[58] Ten days after the fight against Phillips, Chimaev faced promotional newcomer Rhys McKee at welterweight on 25 July 2020, at UFC on ESPN 14.

[69][70] Chimaev was scheduled to face Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC Fight Night 183 on 19 December 2020.

[81] However, on 11 February, UFC president Dana White announced the fight was once again cancelled due to Chimaev suffering from lingering effects of COVID-19.

[83] Dana White later came out and said Chimaev was not retired and was just emotional after experiencing effects of prednisone for his lungs during a training session.

However, due to surgery forcing Costa to pull out of the fight, Chimaev faced former UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman.

He moved there to start his MMA career in 2017, after previously living in another Swedish town, Kalmar, where he trained at the local wrestling club.

[103] Chimaev continues to train alongside current and former UFC fighters such as Alexander Gustafsson, Ilir Latifi and Reza Madadi, with the latter being his main trainer.

[109][110][111][112] His grappling is very often compared to Khabib Nurmagomedov's, due to the similarities of the techniques, such as the handcuff lock and hooking the legs.

[114] Chimaev also proved its effectiveness on the regional circuit as well, with a quick win over former two-time GHSA wrestling champion Sidney Wheeler after taking him down with an outside trip.

[116] Although his striking is still relatively unknown and untested, it involves heavy knockout power from the orthodox stance while utilizing basic boxing and mixing up kicks.

[117] He has previously used it to drop past opponents on the regional circuit, including former combat sambo World Champion Ikram Aliskerov.

[118] Khamzat carries a notable scar on his lip, which he got at the age of two when he fell down on concrete stairs, leaving him unable to breathe correctly through one nostril.

[121] Chimaev contracted COVID-19 in December 2020 and suffered lingering symptoms that required multiple hospitalizations and the cancelation of a scheduled fight against Leon Edwards.

He was in Ali's corner at his professional MMA debut at ACA 150 in December, accompanied him to UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, and took him to train to Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand.