Khamzat Chimaev embraced the art of combat sports to ensure he could protect his family from the harsh conditions of his childhood. He began wrestling at the age of 5 and went on to compete in the Russian National Junior Championships, where he earned a bronze medal. At 18, his family migrated to Sweden in search of a safer life. While in Sweden, Chimaev trained in MMA, and the rest is history.

‘Borz’ as he’s been named by his colleagues is one of the best middleweight fighters to compete under the promotion and his exceptional Kavkaz wrestling skills have maintained his undefeated record. However, his success story can be attributed to his coaches. So, who are the people who molded Chimaev? Ahead of his UFC 308 clash, let us have a deeper look at his support system.

Khamzat Chimaev reunited with his first wrestling coach

After approximately a year-long hiatus, Khamzat Chimaev is set to return to the Octagon, aiming to secure a shot at the middleweight title. As Chimaev prepares for his upcoming fight, he’s determined to put the inactivity allegations behind him. To ensure success, the undefeated fighter has sought guidance from his first coach, Salim Selbievich, to further refine his skills.

While having a conversation with a YouTuber, Adam Zubayraev Chimaev emphasized the importance of getting back to his roots to understand why he started everything, “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.”

He further added, “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.” The undefeated fighter further claims that being trained under his former coach has completely changed his approach towards fighting as he is focusing on rest periods more. Very little is known about his former coach but one thing’s certain and that’s the fact that he is one of the best in the region. Regardless, let us have a look at his other coaches as well.

Other coaches of Khamzat Chimaev

Khamzat Chimaev trains under the tutelage of multiple gyms. When he was training under the tutelage of the All-Stars gym back in Sweden, the undefeated fighters trained under Elmir Abbasov, Mohammad Babadivand, Selman Berisha, and many more. Interestingly, he trained alongside Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson as well but as he left Sweden, Chimaev has been training under a different but lesser-known gym.

In addition to his other coaches, Chimaev has a jiu-jitsu coach named Alan Nascimento, who has helped him understand the art of BJJ. Thanks to Nascimento’s guidance, Chimaev was able to submit Kevin Holland when they fought. Well, in addition to that Khamzat Chiaev has taken the assistance of Murad Bichuev as his head coach. Now, that we know about his coaches, where does he actually train? Let’s find out.

Where does ‘Borz’ train now? Who are his teammates?

After leaving Sweden last year, Khamzat Chimaev left the Allstars Gym behind. He embraced his journey in his new gym, Akhmat Fight Club which is based in Grozny, Russia. So now that we know about his gym. Who are his teammates now? It would not be wrong to state that back in Sweden, ‘Borz’ had the opportunity to train alongside the likes of Alexander Gustafsson but Akhmat Fight Club has its own set of fighters who can give a tough time to even UFC champions.

Some of them are, Shamil “The Lion Of Dagestan” Zavurov with a record of 40-7-1, Mikhail Malyutin (38-16-0), Abdul-Rakhman “The Warrior” Dudaev (33-9-0), Maxim “Maximus” Grishin (32-10-2, 1 NC) and many more. Khamzat Chimaev might be the best among them but will he stay the best? Only time will tell. He is currently scheduled to compete against Robert Whittaker in a potential title eliminator bout at UFC 308. Can he come out on top? Regardless, what’s your take on Chimaev’s career? State your thoughts in the comments below.