UFC stars Arman Tsarukyan and Khamzat Chimaev are currently on a reality show together. Titled ‘Hype Reality’, the show is a ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ clone and has Tsarukyan and Chimaev as rival head coaches, who train their teams to try and beat fighters on the other team. And this time with ‘Borz’ has made the lightweight realize what makes Chimaev such a good fighter, which he revealed in a recent interview in his native Russian.

The official #1 lightweight title contender admitted that the first thing he was impressed by was Chimaev’s sheer strength, size, and weight (which he guessed to be north of 200 pounds at the moment). Chimaev, of course, hasn’t fought for nearly a year and has had issues with weight cutting. And it seems this long layoff has made him even heavier than usual.

“I certainly felt the contact with him. And besides the matchmaking, I also felt his strength. He is very strong, powerful and weighs I think, weighing about 100 kilograms,” Tsarukyan said.

Tsarukyan claimed that he had it on good authority that not only was the Chechen an impressive physical specimen, but also had excellent wrestling (which, of course, Chimaev has already proven in his UFC stint). Particularly impressive was ‘Borz’s ability to transition and get into good positions while grappling, which allows him to constrict his opponents with his breathtaking strength, according to ‘Akhalkalakets.’

“I heard from fighters that it is very difficult to fight with him. He can transition well, controls [his] breathing well… [does] wrestling work with [good] control. And besides, in grappling, [he] understands precisely the chokes… He has two techniques [with] which he strangles well from a position,” he said in an interview with the ‘Ushatayka‘ YouTube channel. And while the reality show they are on may be, for the most part, a vacation, both men are gearing up for potentially the toughest fights of their careers so far.

Khamzat Chimaev and Arman Tsarukyan have  potentially career-defining fights ahead

Arman Tsarukyan is gearing up to fight for the lightweight title. The 27-year-old is one of the few young fighters who was able to break into the top five of the UFC’s stacked lightweight division, which older veterans have dominated for the past half a decade. As such, he was fast-tracked to a title shot and beat former champ Charles Oliveira to become the official title contender for the title currently held by Islam Makhachev. The duo were supposed to fight in Abu Dhabi in late October, a hand injury has ruled Makhachev out of that card. The two will now probably face each other in late 2024 or early 2025, but this will not be their first contest.

While the two have fought before- on Tsarukyan’s UFC debut in 2019 (which ‘Akhalkalakets’ lost via a unanimous decision), the Armenian has come a very long way since. In the five years since the former hockey player has matured and come into his own as a fighter.

Chimaev, on the other hand, seems one step from a title shot himself. Set to face former champion Robert Whittaker on UFC 308 this October, the winner of their fight will have the best claim to fight for the 185-pound gold. ‘Borz’, of course, was the official number one contender last year after beating Kamaru Usman at UFC 294. However, health issues forced him to turn down a title shot this January.

This is why the Chechen feels hard done by Dana White and co., pointing out he had been promised a title shot after beating Usman, but has to fight Whittaker instead. However, things move fast in the UFC, and the title picture changed dramatically when he was out. Thankfully he will have the opportunity to fight for a contendership again in October. That is if his health, which has been a persistent issue for him recently, allows him to make it to UFC 308.