""Every fight is hard because you train hard," Chimaev said at a recent seminaf. "In the cage it's not crazy hard. 15 minutes, 25 minutes, it goes fast in the cage. But because I moved from Sweden to Abu Dhabi before Usman's fight, that's why it was harder for me to train. I didn't have a good team around me, just some friends. That's why that fight was difficult for me.""
"Chimaev has only gone the distance thrice in his career - against Usman, Gilbert Burns, and Dricus Du Plessis. While Chimaev dominated Du Plessis to win the middleweight title, Usman and Burns made him look human. Chimaev was cut open en route to his unanimous decision win over Burns in 2022. Meanwhile, "Borz" earned a majority decision win over Usman, which many believe could have gone the other way in a five-round fight."
Khamzat Chimaev has gone the distance only three times: against Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns, and Dricus Du Plessis. Chimaev dominated Du Plessis to win the middleweight title, while Burns and Usman pushed him and exposed vulnerabilities; Burns cut him en route to a unanimous decision win in 2022, and Usman produced a majority decision that many felt could have swung the other way in a five-round contest. Chimaev reported that the Usman fight was harder to prepare for because he had relocated from Sweden to Abu Dhabi before the bout, arriving with only friends and without a full training team. Chimaev emphasized that cage time feels short compared with grueling camps. Chimaev now hints at moving up to light heavyweight to challenge Alex Pereira for that title.
Read at Sherdog
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