Khamzat Chimaev was born in Chechnya but moved to Sweden
Rising UFC star Khamzat Chimaev shared how he reached Sweden from Chechnya while speaking to Chael Sonnen.
The 26-year-old is one of the hottest properties in the UFC and is undefeated in his MMA career. Chimaev is also 2-0 in the UFC after picking up wins in different divisions over the span of 10 days.
That is an impressive feat by the 26-year-old but a lot of questions have been raised about his background.
Chimaev was born in Chechnya but moved to Sweden where he grew into an MMA star. Sonnen asked how Chimaev got to Sweden and it was all down to the 26-year-old’s brother:
“My brother came here 10 years ago. He was living here and get papers from Sweden, he was working here.
“He also take all families, I mean my mother, like everybody. We also get papers.”
Chimaev also claimed his older brother was the reason why he started wrestling at a young age, and even said that the older Chimaev was a good wrestler.
Chimaev is one of a handful of stars from Russian and its neighbouring regions. Dagestan, a Russian region, has produced some quality MMA stars such as Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Sonnen asked if Chimaev had trained with any Dagestani stars, and the Swede confirmed:
“Yeah, of course, Chechnya and Dagestan, it’s like same country. Everybody train together and compete.”
Chimaev has been called the new Khabib in the UFC. While he does have the look of Khabib and has paid respects to the UFC Lightweight Champion, Chimaev confirmed that he had never trained with the Russian but wants to.
While the Swede isn’t sure of who he is to fight next, he is set to be in action within a month. Dana White confirmed that talks are on for another opponent, and it will be interesting to see what is next for Chimaev.
Follow our dedicated UFC page for instant UFC news and updates
