“To hell with circumstances. I create opportunities,” is what Bruce Lee said and UFC middleweight star Khamzat Chimaev is embodying it in his life. He was not always the famous MMA juggernaut that we know of. Rising from humble beginnings in a small Chechen village, Chimaev has overcome numerous challenges to reach the pinnacle of his mixed martial arts career remaining undefeated throughout (13-0). Ahead of his cracking bout with Robert Whittaker at UFC 308, Chimaev shared his mantra in a Venum ad campaign via Instagram.

The caption read, “They made me who I am today, be a great fighter, be one of the best on top, train hard, push myself beyond limits. Hard work always pays..” In the inspirational advertisement video, Chimaev talked about the struggles that brought him to the summit of the fight game.

‘Borz’ further added, “I made sacrifices living in the gym, I had no money no one was believing in me. That was a hard time for me, I always wanted to be myself. Do something better for my mom for my family. They made me who I am today. Be a great fighter and be one of the best at the top. train hard push myself beyond limits. Hard work always pays. I wanna get my title my gold. This is my dream.”

Khamzat Chimaev’s journey to UFC success was marred by numerous challenges. Born in Russia, he relocated to Sweden with his brother and mother to pursue his career aspirations. Inspired by his brother, a freestyle wrestler, Chimaev decided to try martial arts. Despite his early successes, the Chechen wolf has been on the wrong end of life-altering health ailments and struggles after joining the UFC, which have forced him to withdraw frequently from the bouts. But UFC middleweight fighter Caio Borralho can attest to Khamzat’s hard work.

Caio was Khamzat’s main sparring partner for a scheduled matchup against Nate Diaz in September 2022, a fight that never came to fruition. “Oh dude, for sure the hardest guy to train is Khamzat. He’s a very hard guy to train. I’ve been training with Sean Strickland, [Chris Curtis], very tough guys and hard training. Training with Sean Strickland is very hard too because he always pushes forward like screaming at your face. But, I think Khamzat is the guy who is most difficult to train with for sure. But he is the guy that I develop myself most,” Caio said. Unfortunately, being so hard on himself has often been blamed for his illness.

“He trains a lot, like I didn’t see any other guy in my life that trains as much as he trains. Maybe that’s why sometimes he kills his body and doesn’t make it to the fight,” Caio stated. However, he has since adjusted his training regimen with an acute focus on recovery. The inclusion of Salim Noutsalkhanov, who trained the likes of Olympic wrestling champion Buvaisar Saitiev, in his team has been an important step toward this.

“The point is they now let me rest and recover properly. I used to go to the gym and train till I was done. But then I ended up in hospital. Like the last time when I was in hospital, three times in a row within three weeks. My immune system went down, I got sick,” Khamzat had said last month.

“Now I use a better approach. I work with good coaches. Salim [Noutsalkhanov] raised a lot of world champions. He also trained Buvaisar Saitiev for the Beijing Olympics. With people like that, I’m going to take a big step forward,” he had further added. It seems that his troubled childhood has somehow contributed to pushing himself to the extreme. And this is not the first time Khamzat has opened about his crisis at the early age.

In an interview with ESPN MMA, Khamzat Chimaev described his challenging childhood in a war-torn country. ‘Borz’ faced numerous hardships, including periods without food, that would be considered nightmares for many people.

He explained this further and said, “I grew up in my religion, some small village, like yeah. It was a tough time when I was young. I remember that stuff as was after the war. I came to this world when it was a world war and yeah, it was a hard time without food.”

He also mentioned how he was not just winning these fights in the UFC for himself, but also for the people of his country. Talking about the war and remembering what he felt like as a child seeing that, he added, “I don’t know why it happened. These big things that killed people and why we can’t live like normal, you know….” But now overcoming all these, Khamzat is ready to hit the octagon again after October 2023.

Can Khamzat Chimaev further his winning streak against The Reaper?

In his last fight against Kamaru Usman in the UFC 294, Khamzat won in a round 3 majority decision. Now he is up for a rescheduled fight against Robert Whittaker in the UFC 308 on October 26. It was originally set to take place in the UFC Fight Night in June. But Khamzat pulled out of it after falling “violently ill.” Now the stakes are high for both fighters.

A victory for either fighter could earn them a title bout against the current champion, Dricus Du Plessis, bypassing other contenders like Sean Strickland. For Whittaker, a win over an undefeated fighter like Chimaev would reinforce him as the best middleweight. Let us not forget that in his last fight, he scored a first-round knockout win over Ikram Aliskerov, who stepped in for Khamzat.

On the other hand, Khamzat’s win against a seasoned and well-rounded fighter like Whittaker would further establish his dominance in a division that he has already started ascending by defeating fighters like Kevin Holland and Gilbert Burns, potentially earning a title bout. Indeed, the bout is perfectly matched, even if we look at their fight style.

With his wrestling prowess, Chimaev can dominate opponents on the ground. His takedown accuracy is 65%, a succinct indicator of his grappling efficiency. On the other hand, Whittaker has defeated elite grapplers like Yoel Romero and Ronaldo Souza. He lands significant strikes at a rate of 4.82 per minute.

Robert Whittaker has a karate-based striking style that has quick footwork and precision strikes. This might be challenging for Khamzat, who relies significantly on his wrestling. Notably, Whittaker’s takedown defense is 84%, making it difficult for opponents to take him down. One more decisive factor can be the stamina of the two fighters.

Whittaker is well-versed in 5-round fights. But this will be Khamzat’s first scheduled 25-minute bout. Analysts like Michael Bisping believe Khamzat could be in trouble if he cannot seal the fight early. Because, Whittaker is known for his capacity to maintain composure throughout the fight, an advantage that might give him an edge as the rounds progress. Keeping all that in mind, fans are eager to see if Khamzat can continue his winning streak in one of his toughest fights. Who do you think has the edge?