Former contender at 170lbs Khamzat Chimaev will be facing off against Robert Whittaker at UFC 308. The pair were meant to clash on a fight night at UFC Saudi Arabia. However, due to illness Chimaev had to withdraw from the contest so Whittaker fought Ikram Aliskerov. Whittaker decimated Aliskerov and the fight has been rebooked. And in the build up information has come out about Chimaev’s camp.
Khamzat Chimaev’s Improved Camp
New information has come out about Chimaev’s camp from Vladislav Matveev channel on Telegram. This has then been translated in a twitter post from Home Of Fight
The information that Khamzat was spending this camp elsewhere is not new as this was indicated by many posts from Chimaev’s Instagram. These have displayed Borz training in mountainous regions. But, now we know where Prielbrusye, Russia along the central Caucasus Mountains an area notorious for high altitude. This is a great place for Chimaev to train. Although, Borz typically looks unstoppable the main chink in his armour has been issues with cardio and endurance.
This was highlighted against Kamaru Usman where after a dominant first round Chimaev seemed very tired and was unable to do much to the former champion. So, training at altitude is a wise choice to help Chimaev increase his endurance and cardio. And so against someone as dangerous as Whittaker who is known for resilience extra endurance will be vital.
The presence of Salim Nuzalhanov is also not new. Chimaev revealed Nuzalhanov’s role in his camp in an Instagram post. Nuzalhanov is a highly distinguished freestyle wrestling coach who has contributed to the USSR and Russia’s success in Olympic wrestling. Having such a high level wrestling coach may improve Chimaev’s already formidable wrestling.
Additions To Camp
What is new is the addition of Joakim Karlsson head Muay Thai coach for the Swedish national team. Karlsson was previously affiliated with Khamzat when he was based in Sweden. But, when Khamzat moved to the UAE Karlsson wasn’t present. Bringing back a striking coach from Sweden may be the way to go as while Khamzat was based in Sweden his striking seemed better. For example his striking against Burns looked better compared to against Usman. But to be fair Khamzat injured his right hand in the Usman bout.
The post also brings up how Chimaev had a lot of people tagging on whilst he was in the UAE and had distractions. In comparison Prielbrusye is a more isolated part of the world where distractions will be less present. This should allow Chimaev to focus more purely on his camp and dedicate himself to training for his fight. This dedication could be seen in his chat with Darren Till telling his friend to stay away whilst he’s in camp showing he doesn’t want distractions.
All of this is very exciting as we may see Khamzat the best he has ever looked against his best opponent so far. Chimaev’s main issues have been in relation to endurance and if this camp is able to help or fix it we may see a whole new monster. This provides more hype to the already highly anticipated fight against Robert Whittaker where we may see the best Chimaev vs the best Whittaker.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
