Stephen
Thompson believes the best version of Khamzat
Chimaev wasn’t present at UFC
328. 

Chimaev (15-1) put his middleweight title on the line against
Sean
Strickland at UFC 328 earlier this month. Strickland handed
Chimaev his first professional loss via a split decision in a
massive upset. 

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Thompson questions Chimaev’s training going into the fight against
Strickland. Thompson recalls Chimaev had trained in the small
village of Kislovodsk, Russia, when he challenged Dricus Du
Plessis at UFC 319 last year. Chimaev had ragdolled Du Plessis
for five rounds to earn a dominant decision victory. However,
“Wonderboy” is surprised that Chimaev didn’t spent as much time in
the same camp going into his first title defense. 

“I remember when Khamzat was preparing for Du Plessis,” Thompson
told Full Mount MMA. “I think he did a lot of training in [near
Dagestan]. I don’t think he did a whole a lot for this one. Which
surprised me.”

Kislovodsk was the training center for Olympians ahead of the
Moscow Olympics in 1980. The small village in the Northern Caucasus
mountains is still used as a training hub for several elite
athletes across different sports. 

Swing and Miss Performances

Thompson believes Chimaev was not at his best in his title defense
against Strickland. Thompson believes “Borz” will defeat Strickland
in a potential rematch. 

“I think Chimaev [wins the rematch] for sure,” Thompson said. “Not
saying he didn’t take the last one seriously. But it’s like a swing
or a miss sometimes when you watch Chimaev fight. He looks immortal
a lot when he faces up against some guys but then there is that one
guy who just makes him look mortal… Do I think that was the best
Chimaev that we’ve seen? No, I don’t think so. He looked a little
fatigued, a little tired. He wasn’t as aggressive as you normally
see him.” 

 

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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