“Khamzat Could Still Pull Out” – Fans Worried After Khamzat Chimaev’s Training Ahead of UFC 308

Khamzat Chimaev is gearing up for his upcoming showdown against Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. The highly anticipated fight that will witness the two powerhouses light up the Octagon in the co-main event of the night is surely one for the history books. And to make sure that his name remains as the winner for all to remember, ‘Borz’ has asked for special help.

In order to help him win the battle, Chimaev has teamed up with legendary wrestling coach Salim Nutsalkhanov. For the unaware, Nutsalkhanov is an elite coach who has trained Olympic gold medalist Saitiev Buvaisar. With a fighting style that relies heavily on grappling, the Chechen revealed in his UFC 308 countdown video that under the new coach, he will surely be the best fighter in the UFC.

In the UFC 308 training video where he could be seen training, Whittaker said, “Robert has been a champion and one of the best guys at the top. But I don’t care about this. In the war, doesn’t matter, you die. Why should I be worried about him? I’m a complete MMA fighter. I am the best wrestler in the UFC. He needs to worry about my wrestling, and my right hand can knock this guy out.” He further added that now that he has a new coach, people will surely get to see major changes.

Further in the video, Salim Nutsalkhanov reveals the scientific approach he and his team are taking to help Khamzat Chimaev become the very best. One of the methods is training in the mountains. He said, “Khamzat invited me so that the entire training process would follow a scientific approach. Because just like physics and mathematics have their own laws, sports have their own laws as well. Here on the road, no one bothers us. That’s the first thing. The second thing is high altitude. It’s one of the best things because if we have scientifically billions of red blood cells in the blood, here it’s four times more.”

Well, it surely looks like ‘Borz’ and coach Nutsalkhanov are highly confident in the skills of the Chechen, as well as the new scientific approach that they have taken. However, on the contrary, fans aren’t too pleased with the training Khamzat Chimaev is receiving. In fact, many in the comments were quick to mention that despite the methods, it would be Robert Whittaker who would actually be the winner in the match.

Fans take their sides as Robert Whittaker gets unanimous support

Despite Khamzat Chimaev and coach Nutsalkhanov trying their best, it seems like fans are still unimpressed with their training. Some fans are still worried about Chimaev’s tendency to get injured or sick. After all, he nearly retired after COVID. Some users wrote that despite this training, Chimaev might still pull out of the match or be too weak to even go through a proper fight. They wrote, “Too soon, Khamzat could still pull out,” and “Nah. All it takes is a strong gust of wind to put Khamzat out of action.” One fan even believed that ‘Borz’ lacks the defense and is too chinny for the fight. “Nah. All it takes is a strong gust of wind to put Khamzat out of action.”

Another major point of concern for them has been the stamina of Chimaev. Several users pointed out that ‘Borz’ lacks the stamina to go five rounds against Whittaker, while some claimed that this training, along with Chimaev’s lack of stamina, will only lead to further fatigue for the fighter. They wrote comments like, “Khamzat doesn’t have the cardio to keep up with Rob,” and “Death from wrestling fatigue?”

But not everyone was speaking against the Chechen. Some of his fans still had high faith in the MMA star, who is still undefeated. As a result, many fans hoped that Khamzat Chimaev would easily win against Whittaker and give a fitting reply to his critics. Some of such well-wishers wrote comments like, “All I want is a good fight. Khamzat winning and shutting people up would just be icing on the cake. I think it’s going to be a war,” “Khamzat 1 round TKO win,” and “He is about to do nasty things to Whittaker.”

Well, it surely looks like people have polarizing opinions on the fight. But what do you think? Do you believe Chimaev would come up on top? Let us know in the comments.