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Upon his entry into the UFC, it was easy to deem Khamzat Chimaev as a one-of-a-kind fighter in this day and age of the sport. “Borz” immediately made a strong impression in his debut in 2020 and in just a couple of years already got the A-list treatment with superstar opponent bookings.
Apparently, he isn’t that unique. The 29-year-old undefeated fighter bears an uncanny image with a Brave CF competitor who even has the exact nickname.
Khamzat Chimaev’s doppelganger
Enter Khamzat Maaev, Khamzat Chimaev’s clone in the Middle East. Not much can be found out about him online other than he also goes by the nickname “Borz” and likewise hails from Chechnya.
According to his fighter profile, he holds an undefeated record since beginning his pro career in 2020. Maaev last saw action in the recently-concluded Brave CF 71 over the weekend in Bahrain where he won via TKO inside 41 seconds against Ellie Farah.
The win elevates him to a 4-0 slate. And just like his counterpart in the UFC, all of his early wins ended by stoppage. Watch the very short clip below.
What is Khamzat Chimaev up to these days?
As for the actual Khamzat Chimaev, he hasn’t seen action since his UFC 279 win over Kevin Holland in September 2022. The fight was done at a 180-pound catchweight after the Sweden-based fighter entered the fight 7.5 pounds over the welterweight limit.
He was originally slated to face company superstar Nate Diaz, who ended up fighting Tony Ferguson in the main event.
In March, Khamzat Chimaev began drumming up some enthusiasm for a fight between him and then-champion Alex Pereira. Nothing ever came to fruition and “Poatan” ended up losing the title to Israel Adesanya and moving up to light heavyweight.
A month later, rumors about a fight between Paulo Costa and Khamzat Chimaev began floating around. According to former title contender turned commentator Chael Sonnen, the said pairing would be part of UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi in October.
“They’re going to go out to Abu Dhabi—that’s a co-main event, very relevant, for 3-rounds instead of 5—Islam [Makhachev] on top of the bill,” Sonnen said.
That fight also ended up getting scrapped as “Borrachinha” was later booked to fight Dagestan’s Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 291 in late July. Still left without a dance partner, Khamzat Chimaev began calling out former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
He even promised to send “The Nigerian Nightmare” to retirement.
“Usman wants to fight, I make [it] his last fight. He wants money, he knows where is the money, you know? Everyone knows the money. Now I’m going to fight this guy, in Abu Dhabi; smash his face, finish him.
“Then they’ll have to give me that title shot. There’s no money fights anymore, there’s only me. Because they know that Leon Edwards, they don’t give you that much money [to fight him], you know? If you fight with me, everyone knows it’s money fight.”
Chimaev’s immaculate record stands at 12-0.
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