Outside Source
Chimaev (15-1) put his middleweight title on the line against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 earlier this month. Strickland handed Chimaev his first professional loss via a split decision in a massive upset.
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Thompson questions Chimaev’s training going into the fight against Strickland. Thompson recalls Chimaev had trained in the small village of Kislovodsk, Russia, when he challenged Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 last year. Chimaev had ragdolled Du Plessis for five rounds to earn a dominant decision victory. However, “Wonderboy” is surprised that Chimaev didn’t spent as much time in the same camp going into his first title defense.
“I remember when Khamzat was preparing for Du Plessis,” Thompson told Full Mount MMA. “I think he did a lot of training in [near Dagestan]. I don’t think he did a whole a lot for this one. Which surprised me.”
Kislovodsk was the training center for Olympians ahead of the Moscow Olympics in 1980. The small village in the Northern Caucasus mountains is still used as a training hub for several elite athletes across different sports.
Swing and Miss Performances
Thompson believes Chimaev was not at his best in his title defense against Strickland. Thompson believes “Borz” will defeat Strickland in a potential rematch.
“I think Chimaev [wins the rematch] for sure,” Thompson said. “Not saying he didn’t take the last one seriously. But it’s like a swing or a miss sometimes when you watch Chimaev fight. He looks immortal a lot when he faces up against some guys but then there is that one guy who just makes him look mortal… Do I think that was the best Chimaev that we’ve seen? No, I don’t think so. He looked a little fatigued, a little tired. He wasn’t as aggressive as you normally see him.”
🏔️🤔 Stephen Thompson says Khamzat Chimaev may NOT have been as prepared for Strickland because he didn’t have the same training camp in southern Russia that he had before the DDP fight:
“I remember when Khamzat was preparing for Du Plessis I think he did a lot of training in… pic.twitter.com/VPiqIBqJ5m
— Full Mount MMA (@MMAFullMount) May 26, 2026
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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