Outside Source
Alan Do Nascimento, the grappling coach of Khamzat
Chimaev, is helping the Chechen-born fighter sharpen his game
ahead of a title shot against Dricus Du
Plessis in the main event of
UFC 319 in Chicago on Aug. 16.
According to Nascimento, the camp was split between Russia, Abu
Dhabi and California.
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“Right after the fight against [Robert] Whittaker last October,
Chimaev took some time off to take care of his son who needed a
surgery in Sweden. Thank God everything went fine,” Nascimento told
Sherdog.com. “Then he went to Russia to spend some time training
with Olympic level guys in the mountains. After that, we moved to
Abu Dhabi, and in the last three weeks we came to California to
finish the camp with the excellent structure of Santo Studio gym.
[Khalil] Rountree did his last camp here, Arman
Tsarukyan trains here and T.J.
Dillashaw. They also have great coaches here. All I can say is
that Chimaev is in wonderful shape since he knows it will be the
most important fight of his life.”
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt expects Du Plessis to be a more
difficult opponent than Whittaker, who succumbed to a submission
from Chimaev in the first round of their UFC 308 bout.
“He has such an unorthodox style,” Nascimento said. “It’s ugly to
see, but it definitely works as he showed against many former
champions. Also, he has good ground skills. Chimaev is ready to
face the best DDP and also ready to go five rounds if
necessary.”
Nascimento also commented on the statement from Islam
Makhachev saying that Chimaev should keep the fight standing up
against Du Plessis.
“I respect Islam a lot,” he said. “No doubt he is one of the
legends of the sport, but DDP has a very high level of striking. He
exchanged punches in equal conditions with [Israel] Adesanya. As
his BJJ coach, I would love to see him get the submission, but
Chimaev will decide what he will do in the fight.”
Coach Dismisses Chimaev Retirement Rumors
According to Nascimento, the rumors that Chimaev will retire if he
gets a UFC belt don’t make any sense.
“Khamzat loves the training routine,” he said. “I see him not only
keeping the belt but also trying to get the welterweight title. In
that canceled fight against [Nate] Diaz, he had fought [Gilbert]
Burns months before, so his body had a hard time in the weight-cut
process. But in normal conditions, Chimaev has no problem reaching
welterweight. So I see him not only defending the middleweight belt
many times, but also going down to try to get a second one.”
Working with Chimaev since he was fighting amateur MMA, Nascimento
has evolved to become much more than a coach over the years.
“Since we met in the Sweden academy in 2017, we had an immediate
connection,” Nascimento said. “He knew I grew up in a Brazilian
slum. He survived all the hard times in war time in Chechnya and
had almost nothing in that new country. I remember back in 2018, a
few months before his fight with Ikram [Aliskerov] in Brave, he
used to wait until I finished my grappling class to ask for my
shorts to fight at an MMA event. The guy didn’t have shorts to
train, and I always helped him. Since then we have created a strong
bond. He promised me that after he gets his UFC belt, he will come
with me to the Cantagalo Slum, where I grew up in Rio, to get to
know my family and my people. Maybe in October at UFC Rio or in the
next edition of ADXC promoted by our bosses.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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