Khamzat Chimaev's training partner Abdoul Abdouraguimov believes the Swede will become the next UFC middleweight champion.
Sean Strickland will look to win back the gold from Dricus Du Plessis after losing it to him last year when they faced off at UFC 312. However, fans would have loved to see the champion defend against Chimaev, who just brutalized Robert Whittaker at UFC 308. in October.
And Abdouraguimov, better known as 'Lazy King', believes the undefeated bogeyman will use one key asset to dethrone whoever wins the match in Sydney. He is preparing for his own headline performance at the PFL Europe Championships in Lyon tomorrow night, and has been training with Chimaev.
Abdoul Abdouraguimov reveals the reason why Khamzat Chimaev will become middleweight champion
During his stay in Dubai, 'Lazy King' managed to do a few laps with Khamzat Chimaev. The middleweight pair were overseen by coach Clement Marcou, and the French star told Bloody Elbow in an exclusive chat that the key ingredient is Chimaev's bulletproof mentality.
“I saw with Khamzat Chimaev that everyone thinks he is a wild and barbaric fighter,” he noted. “But he is a very smart fighter, he knows he is strong, but he also recognizes his weaknesses, so he is not stupid and just keeps moving forward.
“I had a lot to learn from him. He is very dedicated to his work, often he will do the same thing, but that makes him strong. It's like Bruce Lee said, “I'm not afraid of the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I'm afraid of the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
“That's how Khamzat is. He does simple things, simple attacks, but he does it every day, so when he gets it you feel it and it's different.”
Abdoul Abdouraguimov explains why Khamzat Chimaev's wrestling is so effective
The pair's training sessions allowed Abdouraguimov to see firsthand the abrasive wrestling style that Chimaev has become known for. And he believes this ability is so rare in MMA that it will make him an unstoppable force.
When asked if he believes Chimaev will be the next champion at 185 pounds, he replied: “I think so, because he works and his wrestling is very good. The wrestling of many MMA fighters is not very good, they may have good defense, but high level wrestling is rare.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
“It's a very difficult sport, and even I don't want to wrestle because it's difficult and it makes you tired. Look at people like Yoel Romero and Daniel Cormier. These are Olympic wrestlers and they don't even want to wrestle in MMA fights because it's very tiring.
“Attacking is even tiring. Sometimes I want to attack, but my body says 'wait a minute' even though I have to go. You have to break your body and break your mind to obey and that is how you make an opponent fall.”
UFC 312 Main Event stars are not 'afraid' of the looming Khamzat Chimaev
However, he refuses to go so far as to say that Du Plessis or Strickland are avoiding Chimaev in any serious way. All world level fighters in MMA have honed their skills to a point where it is very rare that they would have any fear of any particular opponent.
“As a fighter, I don't think they're scared,” he continued. “But they certainly know their weaknesses and they know it's going to be a tough fight.
“But at the end of the day, they're fighters and they're not afraid of anyone, you know?”
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