UFC 319 star Khamzat Chimaev was once called out for his actions inside the cage by his peers.
Chimaev will take to the Octagon Saturday night for his first opportunity at adding UFC gold to his résumé. ‘Borz’ will look to leave Chicago’s United Center with both the middleweight title in his possession and his undefeated record intact.
In the main event of UFC 319, Chimaev will challenge Dricus du Plessis. It appears that the Chechen star has the fans on his side in the ‘Windy City’, after he received a much more positive reception than the champion at both the pre-fight press conference and ceremonial weigh-ins.
While he may be a fan favorite right now, that has not always been the case. Chimaev was once on a villainous run, which was compounded by one moment that even upset some of his fellow fighters.
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Khamzat Chimaev tore through Kevin Holland after taking advantage of his glove touch offer
In his final fight before moving up to middleweight after weight issues put a halt to his charge toward the title at 170 pounds, Chimaev faced Kevin Holland at UFC 279 in September 2022.
The bout was agreed on just one day’s notice after Nate Diaz turned down his planned main event with ‘Borz’ following his mammoth 7.5-pound weight miss.
Instead of his first PPV headliner, Chimaev instead tore through Holland on the undercard in Las Vegas. The Chechen phenom needed just over two minutes to ragdoll ‘Big Mouth’ into a brabo choke submission that forced a quick tap.
That marked a return to fast finishing for the unbeaten star, as Chimaev had previously failed to stop Gilbert Burns during their brutal three-round war earlier in the year.
But for some, the move that set up Chimaev’s rapid success against Holland was not acceptable.
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Fighters called Khamzat Chimaev out for ‘shooting on the glove touch’
Chimaev’s performance attracted many plaudits, but not everybody focused on the Chechen’s grappling display and fight-ending submission.
‘Borz’ rubbed some of his fellow fighters up the wrong way by instantly taking Holland down as he offered a glove touch right out of the gate.
“A lot of unnecessary drama this week,” Henry Cejudo posted.
“Chimaev is going full heel,” Ben Askren said.
“Khamzat #1 scumbag, shooting on the glove touch,” Joe Giannetti wrote.
Plenty of fans shared the same sentiment.
“Khamzat Chimaev doing the fake glove touch is so dirty.”
“This is the go to for Chimaev. High kick, takedown. Jab high, takedown. Fake glove touch, takedown. Chimaev wants to get to the hips and will do so by all means available to him.”
“I’m not discrediting Chimaev; he’s better than Kevin Holland. But that was a clear fake glove touch.”
“Chimaev is my favorite fighter but he definitely shot while holland was going for a glove touch.”
With that in mind, Du Plessis will need to be on alert from the very first second when the UFC 319 main event gets underway.