Khamzat Chimaev has recalled his time training with Ilia Topuria, suggesting the latter always possessed the work ethic to become a UFC champion.
Topuria recently gave up the featherweight title and will fight for the vacant lightweight belt in June, as he faces former 155lb champion Charles Oliveira in the UFC 317 main event.
Then, in August, Chimaev will challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title as they headline UFC 319.
And ahead of those championship bouts, Chimaev reflected on his time training alongside Topuria at the All Stars gym, when the pair were competing under the Brave banner.
“Of course, even then he was a top fighter in Brave,” Chimaev told Adam Zubayraev. “It was clear that he was a hard worker who wants to achieve something, and he achieved everything that you can in this sport.”
Chimaev, 31, also defended the Georgian-Spaniard’s brash trash talk, saying: “If fighters were quiet, there would be no such interest [in MMA]. In regular life, I’ve met him – spent some time together and ate together. He’s a decent, solid guy.”
Topuria, 28, has stayed unbeaten in MMA at 16-0, claiming the featherweight belt with a knockout of long-reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski last February, before retaining it against ex-champ Max Holloway with another KO in October.
Chimaev is also unbeaten at 14-0, and he will similarly enter his title fight on the back of two straight wins over former champions. In October, the same night that Topuria beat Holloway, the Russian submitted Robert Whittaker, having outpointed former welterweight king Kamaru Usman 12 months earlier.
Chimaev has long been tipped as a future UFC champion, having made an emphatic entry into the promotion in 2020, and having produced numerous first-round finishes since then.
However, his progress has stalled at times due to health problems, past indecision over whether to compete at 170lb or 185lb, and rumoured travel issues.
The “Wolf” finally seems to have hit his stride, though, and is bearing down on Du Plessis, who is unbeaten in the UFC and is on a remarkable run. The South African’s last four wins have come against former champions: Whittaker and Israel Adesanya via stoppage, and Sean Strickland on points twice.
