Khamzat Chimaev immediately emerged as one of the most dominant grapplers on the roster when he signed to the UFC.
The undefeated phenom was able to completely manhandle his opponents to produce multiple near-flawless performances.
However, in his third UFC outing, Chimaev proved that he is also dangerous on the feet, stopping Gerald Meerschaert in just 17 seconds back in 2020.
When giving his thoughts on his former training partner’s middleweight title fight at UFC 319, Darren Till suggested that Chimaev could knock Dricus du Plessis out with his razor-sharp right hand.
Another devastating example of ‘Borz’ showcasing his striking happened before he signed to the UFC, where he collided with a fellow undefeated prospect that has also made an impact inside the Octagon.
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Khamzat Chimaev knocked out Ikram Aliskerov in one punch when the two undefeated prospects faced off
Before signing to the UFC in 2020, Khamzat Chimaev had already shown what he was capable of while competing in Brave CF.
Only one of the four opponents that he faced in this promotion made it out of the first round before ‘Borz’ went on to announce himself in the UFC.
At Brave CF 23 in 2019, he met Ikram Aliskerov, who put his 8-0 record up against the 4-0 run of his opponent.
Despite seemingly being dropped in the first 30 seconds, Aliskerov was able to have some success with defending the early takedowns and aggression from Chimaev.
Unfortunately, the grappling offensive wasn’t the only thing he had to worry about, as it didn’t take long for a huge shot to land once the two men started to trade strikes.
Around the halfway mark of the first round, Chimaev showed himself to be a smart and dangerous striker, as he dipped out of the way of an incoming jab and unleashed a huge uppercut that immediately sent Aliskerov crashing to the floor and sent his mouthpiece flying.
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Ikram Aliskerov followed Khamzat Chimaev to the UFC where he has put together an impressive run
While Ikram Aliskerov would spend more time in Brave CF after this loss, he eventually joined Khamzat Chimaev on the UFC roster.
After signing to the promotion in 2022, he produced consecutive first-round finishes to emerge as one of the middleweight division’s most exciting additions.
His first UFC loss came when he stepped in to replace Chimaev and face Robert Whittaker in the main event of the promotion’s event in Saudi Arabia in June of last year.
He’s since bounced back with another first round finish over Andre Muniz, suggesting that we’ve still not seen the best of him yet.