Khamzat Chimaev Sparks Old Rival of Sean Strickland in Sparring Ahead of UFC 328

Khamzat Chimaev rocked Sean Strickland's former opponent during a training session chronicled on his new YouTube channel.

Khamzat Chimaev Sparks Old Rival of Sean Strickland in Sparring Ahead of UFC 328

Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland [via UFC.com and Reddit]

In Short
  • Khamzat Chimaev is preparing for his UFC 328 title defense against Sean Strickland with Brendan Allen in his training camp.
  • Chimaev showcased his skills in a sparring session, demonstrating effective striking and grappling against Allen.
  • Chimaev has launched his own YouTube channel, featuring training content and updates leading up to his fight.

Khamzat Chimaev is gearing up to take on Sean Strickland at UFC 328 in a couple of weeks. To prepare for his first defense of the middleweight belt, the Chechen has added the No. 4 ranked UFC middleweight, Brendan Allen, to his training camp. It is a wise decision considering Allen has fought Chimaev’s upcoming opponent, Sean Strickland.

Allen and Strickland faced off in 2020 where the latter accepted a fight on 6 days’ notice. ‘Tarzan’ got the better of the Louisiana native in that fight by knocking him out in the second minute of the second round. It seems Allen now wants to get back at Strickland by helping his nemesis prepare for him.

Sometime ago, fans were given a day-one sneak peek into Allen’s contributions to Chimaev’s camp, thanks to Bear Degidio. The JAXXON podcast host posted a short clip of Chimaev and Allen grappling in the gym at Santo Studios. But now, ‘Borz’ himself has shared an update with his fans. The middleweight champion uploaded some footage of a hard sparring session with Allen.

This new footage shows Khamzat Chimaev snapping Brendan Allen’s head back with a stiff jab. He chains that strike into a blast double leg before running the pipe and taking down Allen with relative ease.

The Chechen champion’s ability to combine his skill sets is looking really slick in this clip. ‘Borz’ rounding out his skillset in MMA and getting his striking to the level of his grappling is indeed a scary prospect for future challengers.

Brendan Allen himself is preparing to fight Edmen Shahbazyan on the undercard of an APEX card in June. This bout has baffled fans, given the gap in the fighters’ rankings. Allen is ranked No.4, whereas Shahbazyan isn’t even in the top 15 of the middleweight division. Nonetheless, training with someone like Chimaev will help Allen hone his grappling to counter the style of Shahbazyan.

It appears the middleweights went at it for 2 rounds with Chimaev seemingly getting the better of the American. Nonetheless, these hard-fought sparring rounds will surely help Chimaev gear up for Sean Strickland’s incessant pressure that flummoxed Israel Adesanya. But even amid all this grueling training, Khamzat Chimaev is still building his brand.

Khamzat Chimaev launches his own YouTube channel

The reach of a UFC champion is beyond that of an average fighter. Unless a fighter is Conor McGregor, odds are that the peak of their fame will be if and when they win a championship. Khamzat Chimaev seems to have realized this recently with his attempts to capitalize on it by growing his social media presence. The Chechen has appeared in videos with Arman Tsarukyan for quite some time.

Khamzat Chimaev
Khamzat Chimaev (via Instagram)

But after moving to Santo Studio and working with the JAXXON brand, the collaborations haven’t stopped. He trained with Khalil Roundtree recently, and troubled the light heavyweight. ‘Borz’ even made videos recently training with bantamweight Aaron Pico and MMA legend Demetrious Johnson. It would appear Chimaev wants his own piece of the pie with the launch of his YouTube channel.

The channel is self-titled with the username, BorzAcademy. It only has one video on it, called Khamzat Chimaev: BORZ EP.1 | UFC 328 Fight Camp. The clip of Khamzat Chimaev dominating Brendan Allen was actually first uploaded on this channel. It is safe to assume that subsequent episodes of the BORZ series will be released as the fight against Strickland draws near.

‘Borz’ seems to be taking the PR side of fighting seriously. After all, being a draw goes beyond the confines of the octagon. But nothing will boost his profile more than a successful title defense against a former champion like Sean Strickland.

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