Khamzat Chimaev is undefeated in the MMA, and his training partner says he is an animal and beast.
Chimaev trains at AllStars in Sweden and trains with several pro fighters, although some aren’t in the UFC. Heavyweight fighter, Irman Smajić – who is 3-1 as a pro – says he has trained with Chimaev since the beginning and he says it’s surreal how good Chimaev is now.
“He’s a f*****g animal, brother. He’s a f*****g animal. In the beginning, I at least had my size and power, there’s nothing wrong with that. He just goes through it, punches, everything. He’s just a f*****g beast,” Smajić said on Khamzat Chimaev’s YouTube channel.
Hearing another training partner praise Chimaev is nothing new. ‘Borz’ has trained with the likes of Darren Till and Alexander Gustafsson and both have praised Chimaev for the way he trains.
‘He doesn’t get Tired’
“He works harder than I ever worked,” Gustafsson said last year. “He’s doing five sessions a day, at least. In my prime, when I fought Jon [Jones] and those guys back in the day, I did three sessions a day, and I did, like, 20 rounds every sparring [session]. My conditioning was crazy. But this guy, he outworks me. He doesn’t get tired… He hits hard. He has this thing that he’s fast, and he has very good precision, so he doesn’t need a lot of power to just knock people out, because he knows what he’s aiming at, and he hits every time. I’ve play-sparred with lot of guys, you’re just laughing and joking around and having a good time. But this guy, when he comes to spar, he comes to spar. It doesn’t matter if it’s me or another guy, he just goes.”
Khamzat Chimaev is a perfect 12-0 in the UFC and is coming off a first-round submission win over Kevin Holland at UFC 279 last September. He currently does not have his next fight booked but there are rumors of him facing Kamaru Usman next time out.
As for Irman Smajić, he’s 3-1 as a pro and lost by KO last time out, but hasn’t fought since November of 2021. Yet, he remains in the gym and gets to work with Chimaev which he knows is benefiting him.
