Khamzat Chimaev Did a Bait-and Switch to UFC Fans: Show Excitement then Show IQ – MMA Champ Explains

Khamzat Chimaev began his career with a stylistic approach that many found quite exciting but a notable former MMA champion thinks ‘Borz’ pivoted his methodolgy to bring him to the level of being a UFC champion. This was discussed by former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion King Mo Lawal who touched on the evolution of the UFC’s reigning middleweight champion as Lawal took part in an interview with MMA Junkie Radio.

When delving into the shifts he has seen within Chimaev’s combative approach from the beginning of his UFC journey until now, King Mo Lawal said,

“I’m gonna drop some BS on y’all. Khamzat hit the UFC with the grand ole switch-do, going out there saying ‘I can strike, I can do this.’ I’ll strike. But the moment he faced a guy that was very insufficient with the grappling, he was like, ‘You know what, guys? Let me go back to my roots.'”

“And he went out there and wrestled and grappled this guy for two, 24 minutes and 34, 35 seconds. That was it. Just controlled him. And he used IQ because he knew this guy has nothing here for me. Let me beat him there. Same thing with Islam. Islam’s like, ‘This guy has nothing here for me. Let me handle this.'”

​”You’re not going to see as many barn burners, per se. You’re going to see more IQ now. You’ll see more people getting beat up because the judge criteria is damage. To me, first, you’re gonna see more damage being implemented, but more in a more intelligent way.”

Khamzat Chimaev could be a 3 division UFC champ, per another ex-strikeforce champion

Khamzat Chimaev already helms over the 185 pound class in the UFC but he could potentially hold gold in two other wieght classes according to a former Strikeforce lightweight champion.

Josh Thomson articulated this thought recently on the Weighing In podcast with Thomson stating [via Sportskeeda],

“Look, everyone wants a double gold, but I’ve said this before, it’s easier to do it from 185 to 205 and then even up to heavyweight. I would not be surprised, to be honest, if he’s [Chimaev] the first guy to go three champs. You look at his body style, he’s tall, long, and lanky. He doesn’t seem like he has a hard time putting weight on, especially after missing weight at 170.”