Borz is back: Why Khamzat Chimaev is only now fighting for a UFC title

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- It's 11:30 on Sunday morning, and Khamzat Chimaev is pacing barefoot around the one-story California home he's been living in for more than a month. In 13 days from this moment, ESPN's No. 2-ranked middleweight will fight for a UFC title for the first time when he challenges champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 in Chicago (Saturday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV; prelims at 6 p.m. on ESPN+). It's an opportunity that the undefeated Russian fighter (and the entire sport of mixed martial arts) has been anticipating for years -- far longer than anyone predicted or probably imagined. But right now, "Borz" isn't thinking about any of that. He's aimlessly wandering around the living room, almost as if he's lost.

Chimaev's nutritionist and chef for this camp, Matteo Capodaglio, is meant to be preparing lunch right now, but today's itinerary has been thrown into question. Chimaev slept in and pushed back a recovery session and that was scheduled at 10 a.m. After playing video games by himself for a while and eating a late breakfast, he decided to cancel the recovery session altogether. It's fine, everything is fine. This happens, according to Johnathon Michael Knapek, a longtime member of Chimaev's management team whom everyone knows as "Sweep." It just means no one on Chimaev's team knows exactly what to do at the moment.

"I told you this was going to be one of those days," Sweep says to Capodaglio, his eyes still on Chimaev 10 feet away. "He's going Rodman."

The reference, of course, is to NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, who notoriously disappeared to Las Vegas for 48 hours in the middle of the 1998 NBA Finals before returning to help the Chicago Bulls win their third straight NBA championship. Like Rodman, Chimaev needs to occasionally veer off-course. He needs freedom. It's less worrisome now than when he first gained UFC success and a "Rodman Day" might involve him disappearing in a fast, expensive car for several days. Now, it looks more like this -- a brief mutiny against routine.

"You can see it with his personality, his fire starts to die out," Sweep says. "That's when you know you need to let him loose for a day. Let him do what he wants, and he'll come back a monster."

On cue, a sense of clarity brightens Chimaev's face. He wants to go to the beach. It's a convenient, 10-minute drive from the house, but he's only been twice since the team arrived. He's not a "beach guy," but for whatever reason, it's what he needs right now. Sweep grabs the car keys while Capodaglio returns unused ingredients to the fridge. Lunch will wait.

Chimaev only swims for about 15 minutes, but his mood and energy elevate immediately. He begins shadowboxing on the sand and mentions Du Plessis for the first time today. He jokingly throws a sloppy haymaker with his right hand and claims it will be the punch that wins him a UFC title.

Back home, he pulls his Russian teammate Issa Isakov into a wrestling match on the living room couch, which is already broken from a wrestling session the week before. Capodaglio emerges from the kitchen with freshly baked bread and fish, and the day is back on track. Another Rodman Day has worked its magic.

"Most important recovery is here," Chimaev says, pointing to the side of his head.

It's good for Chimaev's team to see him like this. It's good that in 13 days, regardless of outcome, the world will see him fight for a UFC championship in the United States, where the Russian national who lives in the United Arab Emirates hasn't been since September 2022 because of visa issues.

It's good, because there were times it truly felt as if this wasn't going to happen -- that despite all of Chimaev's talent, work ethic and unique viciousness inside the Octagon, his legacy would be defined by delays and lack of opportunity.

IN MID-JULY, a rumor surfaced that Chimaev could retire if he were to win the belt in Chicago. UFC middleweight Caio Borralho, who has trained with Chimaev, revealed he'd heard "whispers" that Chimaev would leave the sport once that job was finished.

At the mention of Borralho's comments, Chimaev scoffed.

"I don't know where he hears these things," Chimaev said. "This is not enough, just to go for one title. Hopefully, if I don't get injured, I'm gonna defend the belt, fight for another belt."

The idea of Chimaev retiring from MMA at 31 and in the prime of his career seems absurd on many levels. He is coming off an utterly dominant first-round submission of Robert Whittaker nine months ago, in which his opponent, a former champion, managed to only attempt two strikes before being badly outwrestled. Chimaev is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC and arguably its most intriguing and mysterious figure. Fans want to see him in the Octagon, which puts him in a position of massive financial earning potential.

Still, the retirement rumor never felt completely far-fetched. There are legitimate reasons for Chimaev to walk away from fighting.

He was hospitalized multiple times in 2021 after contracting a severe case of COVID-19. He underwent medical treatments in Las Vegas, in Sweden, where he lived from 2013 to 2023, and in his native Chechnya. In March 2021, he pondered retirement in a post on Instagram after coughing up blood during a training session. He was already such a big deal in MMA (despite having only three fights on his UFC record) that the mere possibility of him retiring drew a global response.

"It was not looking good," Sweep said. "We were just hoping he survived. And when he put that out about retirement, we got so much feedback, so much advice. There were people from Russia trying to help, telling us to send him here, send him there. There were doctors from Turkey saying they would personally fly out the next day to treat him. It was panic."

During the course of those many medical evaluations, it was determined by physicians in Russia that Chimaev suffered from an issue with his thyroid, and he underwent a procedure to remove part of it in spring 2021. The thyroid is a gland in the neck that releases hormones vital to the regulation of metabolism, cardiovascular health and brain activity, among other things, and although Chimaev has continued his career and maintained his undefeated record beyond the operation, he has struggled to stay healthy. He nearly withdrew from a fight against Kamaru Usman in October 2023 due to illness, then was hospitalized after the bout. He pulled out of a fight in June 2024 and was hospitalized again after falling "violently ill," according to UFC CEO Dana White.

Lingering compromises to Chimaev's immune system post-COVID-19 and thyroid surgery have led to significant changes in his lifestyle. Leading up to UFC 319, he has avoided interacting with anyone outside of his camp. He splits time between Abu Dhabi, where he has citizenship, and his home village in Chechnya, avoiding the crowds, nightlife and fan interactions that briefly appealed to him when he first tasted success.

"I like the people and they love me. They want to take pictures, but I have to be careful," Chimaev said. "I have to be ready and not get sick. I have to show up to the fight and give my fans the thing they love. If we go to a mall and somebody gets sick and is a big fan and comes for me, maybe I get that sickness, you know? Better to stay home, prepare for the fight."

The other major issue Chimaev has dealt with is international travel. As a famous citizen of Chechnya, Chimaev has had many interactions with the head of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, who is subject to U.S. sanctions tied to human rights abuses. Chimaev has tried to stay out of politics, but the real complexities of his Chechen citizenship and U.S.-Russian relations have had an undeniable effect on his ability to fight on the UFC's biggest stages in the U.S.. His last two appearances -- against Usman in October 2023 and Whittaker in October 2024 -- took place on the UFC's annual pay-per-view card in Abu Dhabi. The situation only changed when Chimaev became a UAE citizen and President Donald Trump, a longtime UFC fan and friend of White, took office in January.

"Everyone knows I didn't have the visa," Chimaev told a throng of media at a recent open workout. "That's why I [only fought] in Abu Dhabi. Now, Donald Trump is here, so we go for a fight."

For now, the travel issue has been resolved and the visa Chimaev secured in February is valid for the next two years. Also, for now, his team said it has learned to navigate his medical condition far better than in the first months post-procedure. Everything from rest to nutrition to social habits has improved.

"Dark times make a person stronger," Chimaev said. "I like to be going through tough things."

Do the trials and tribulations of the last few years make this championship fight more meaningful than it would have been if it had been handed to him much more easily five years ago?

"I don't know," he said. "I just want to go, fight, make money. When we start talking about the belt -- like guys saying, 'You're the first Chechen to fight for the belt' -- yes, it's maybe big, but it's still one fight. I've [fought] before -- 14 times. Now, I'm going to go one more."

RETIRED UFC VETERAN Ilir Latifi will never forget watching the security footage of Chimaev inside Allstars Training Center in Sweden in the middle of the night.

Chimaev joined Allstars in 2017 and lived in a small storage room in the gym during the first two years of his career. At night, he would pass the time watching television shows on his phone, and occasionally he would wander out onto the mats.

"The guys used to send videos from inside the gym, like 1 or 2 in the morning -- Khamzat hitting the bag by himself," Latifi recalled. "He was living there, you know, and we'd get movement on the security cameras. It was him training. Some fighters are just special like that."

When Chimaev's career has been free of complications and he's simply been allowed to compete, he has shown more potential than anyone in MMA since the great Jon Jones. Much of that promise is because of his work ethic, which has become something of a folk tale in itself. Part of the reason Chimaev became so sick in 2021 is that he refused to stop training, even after he'd tested positive for COVID-19 and could barely walk up a flight of stairs. Many assume that work ethic is something Chimaev was born with, but his Brazilian jiu-jitsu trainer Alan "Finfou" Nascimento suspected there is another explanation: Chimaev was always driven to take care of his family, who struggled with poverty in their Chechen village.

"What is too much to save the life of your family?" Nascimento asked. "I know that I grew up in a favela in Brazil, and I lost my father, grandfather, uncle, cousin and two brothers to crime. I am the man of my house. What is too much for me to do, to put food on the table for my family? There is no limit. "I have always felt Khamzat and I have this in common. He came to Sweden when he was 19 as a refugee. He was born into a country at war in Chechnya. He is fighting to take care of his loved ones, this is what motivates him."

Chimaev has fulfilled that motivation in many respects. There are multiple homes under construction in close proximity to one another just outside of his village in Chechnya, where Chimaev plans to live alongside his mother and one of his brothers. Not far from the family's compound, his father lives in Chimaev's childhood home, which has been remodeled. Not far from that, Chimaev is in the process of erecting a large MMA gym, where he will train for future fights and, more importantly, provide training opportunities for local youth.

His mother, who used to put off eating until she was certain her children were fed and had left the table, is able to enjoy her life, spending time between Sweden and Chechnya. She asks her son regularly if he has become a UFC champion yet, because he once told her that maybe he would stop fighting after that happened. These are the details that could make fans nervous that just when it finally appears Chimaev is cleared to fight, his reasons to do it have been fulfilled.

He admits he doesn't care about the idea of a UFC belt. When he points to how many belts former UFC champions Jones and Demetrious Johnson must have in their possession, he follows up by acknowledging that what truly matters to them is family. That said, he still wants money. He jokes that it feels like every UFC fan believes he's rich, but that his bank account disagrees. He feels a responsibility to make money -- for himself and his family but also for the kids in his village and for teammates who train alongside him, a number that, according to Sweep, can grow to 40 fighters when Chimaev is in Russia. Offering them help is more appealing to him than luxury.

"I went through all of those things, you know? I've seen all the money," Chimaev said. "I've seen the good life -- crazy cars, private jets, watches and clothes. I want to make more money to help somebody who needs it, you know? A lot of the young guys who are helping me, I hope that one day they become better than me. I see myself in them when I was in their position. So I can't stop. If somebody from my team becomes a UFC champion, maybe then I can stop."

There is still some talk of winning three UFC titles, something that's never been done in the history of the sport. Five years ago, some would have considered it possible for Chimaev to have reached that goal by now. He's instead shooting for his first on Saturday, but there have been conversations among the team about him dropping to the welterweight limit of 170 pounds, where he hasn't fought since April 2022. And there are always talks of going up to challenge for a belt at light heavyweight.

In Du Plessis this weekend, he will face a two-time defending champion who has made a career out of proving doubters wrong. Du Plessis has widely been regarded as one of the most unorthodox fighters in the world but has earned respect by finishing the two best middleweights of his generation -- Israel Adesanya and Whittaker -- and outpointing Sean Strickland twice in the past two years. Still, Chimaev is a betting favorite in this title matchup, according to ESPN BET, and money has poured in against the champion. Anytime Chimaev has made it to the Octagon in his career, the odds have been in his favor.