Ahead of UFC 319 in Chicago, there has been widespread worry that Khamzat Chimaev may not actually make it to the fight.
This coming Saturday, Dricus Du Plessis is set to defend his middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC 319 main event in the promotion’s return to Chicago.
Ahead of their long awaited clash, that has seemingly been in the works for over a year now, Du Plessis’ head coach has gone in on Chimaev, labelling him ‘one dimensional’.
And with that, two consensus MMA GOATs have given Chimaev some key advice heading into his first UFC title fight, which may come as a surprise.
Chimaev completes first step of UFC 319 fight week which eases fan concern
Despite his utter dominance in the sport since making his UFC debut in 2020, Chimaev has been somewhat unreliable over the past few years because of his ongoing health complications.
And ahead of his title fight, his training partner and longtime lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan stated that Chimaev needs to be controlled during training camp so that he doesn’t overtrain himself into illness.
In an attempt to keep himself fit and in fighting shape, Chimaev even revealed that throughout his UFC 319 fight camp he has been avoiding leaving his house so that he doesn’t pick up any illnesses.
Despite taking measures to avoid issues, according to Daniel Cormier, Chimaev almost pulled out of UFC 319 after suffering another health complication during his camp, which has left fans nervous.
Fortunately, though, with the fight just a few days away now, ‘Borz’ has officially landed in Chicago ahead of his fight, completing the first major step of fight week.
“We are in Chicago for fight week, finally we’re here, going for gold. See you soon, boys,” Chimaev told the UFC Europe cameras.
Chimaev gets his own pair of incredible custom shorts
As do most of the big stars in the UFC these days, Chimaev has been granted his own pair of custom shorts ahead of the biggest fight of his career thus far.
The navy blue shorts depict a graphic of a wolf, paying homage to his nickname ‘Borz’. Next up for Chimaev is the weight cut, which the Chechen should pass with flying colors considering the fight is at 185lbs.