Biography
Sources for this profile
Wikipedia, Khamzat Chimaev (article read 21 Oct 2026)(opens in a new tab)
Khamzat Chimaev was born on 1 May 1994 in Gvardeyskoye in the Chechen Republic, Russia, and began wrestling there at the age of five.
Where in the source: Early life, first paragraph: born 1 May 1994 in Gvardeyskoye
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He emigrated to Sweden in 2013, at age 18.
Where in the source: Early life: emigrated to Sweden in 2013
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In freestyle wrestling he is a three-time Swedish national champion, and after arriving in Sweden he wrestled for several clubs including BK Athén.
Where in the source: Lead paragraph and Wrestling section: three-time Swedish national champion; BK Athén
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Chimaev began MMA training at 23 at Allstars Training Center in Stockholm, alongside Alexander Gustafsson, Ilir Latifi and Reza Madadi; the infobox gives his time with the team as 2017 to 2023.
Where in the source: MMA career section and infobox: trained at Allstars Training Center in Stockholm
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Between September 2017 and April 2018 he had three amateur MMA fights, and he turned professional on 26 May 2018.
Where in the source: Early career paragraph: three amateur MMA fights; turned professional 26 May 2018
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At UFC 273 on 9 April 2022 he beat Gilbert Burns by unanimous decision, the first decision win of his career, in a fight that was awarded Fight of the Night.
Where in the source: UFC section: Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 on 9 April 2022
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On 21 October 2023 at UFC 294 he beat former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman by majority decision.
Where in the source: UFC section: returned to middleweight on 21 October 2023 at UFC 294
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At UFC 308 on 26 October 2024 he submitted Robert Whittaker with a face-crank in the first round.
Where in the source: UFC section: UFC 308, 26 October 2024, face-crank submission
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On 16 August 2025 at UFC 319 he won the UFC Middleweight Championship from Dricus du Plessis by unanimous decision, and he lost the title to Sean Strickland by split decision at UFC 328 on 9 May 2026.
Where in the source: UFC section: UFC 319, 16 August 2025; UFC 328, 9 May 2026
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The infobox lists his Brazilian jiu-jitsu rank as black belt under Alan Nascimento.
Where in the source: Infobox, Rank row: black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Alan Nascimento
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BJJ Eastern Europe (BJJEE), report on Chimaev's title win and black belt, 17 Aug 2025(opens in a new tab)
After Chimaev won the UFC middleweight title in Chicago, his longtime jiu-jitsu coach Alan Finfou Nascimento entered the cage and tied a black belt around his waist; the article is dated 17 August 2025.
Where in the source: Section A Historic Moment in the Cage: Nascimento entered the cage and tied a black belt
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BJJ Eastern Europe (BJJEE), article on Chimaev's wrestling background, 1 Oct 2020(opens in a new tab)
BJJEE reported in October 2020 that Chimaev had recently started training gi jiu-jitsu at Allstars Training Center and that his instructor, Alan Finfou Nascimento, felt it was time to award him a blue belt.
Where in the source: Article body: started to train BJJ in the Gi at Allstars; Nascimento blue belt
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BJJ Eastern Europe (BJJEE), article on Chimaev's purple-belt condition, 6 Apr 2022(opens in a new tab)
BJJEE wrote in April 2022 that Nascimento, described there as a multiple-time BJJ world champion, had felt the previous year that it was time to award Chimaev a blue belt, after Chimaev started gi training at Allstars Training Center.
Where in the source: Article body: started to train BJJ in the Gi a few years ago; blue belt
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Chimaev said in an interview, as reported by BJJEE, that Nascimento would promote him to purple belt if he submitted Gilbert Burns; Chimaev added that Nascimento had beaten Burns three or four times in BJJ competition.
Where in the source: Article body: instructor would promote him to purple belt if he submitted Burns
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Elite Sports (BJJ gear retailer blog), 23 Oct 2023(opens in a new tab)
Elite Sports reported on 23 October 2023 that Chimaev was promoted to BJJ brown belt after his UFC 294 win over Kamaru Usman.
Where in the source: Article headline and body: promoted to BJJ brown belt after winning UFC 294
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Sherdog, interview with Chimaev's coach before UFC 273, 31 Mar 2022(opens in a new tab)
Sherdog described Alan do Nascimento, known as Finfou, as Chimaev's Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach and a black belt from the Checkmat academy; the piece, dated 31 March 2022, says Chimaev held a blue belt at that time.
Where in the source: Article text: Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach of Chimaev; black belt from Checkmat; blue belt
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In the same interview Nascimento said the main coaching problem was convincing Chimaev to train less, praised the training partnership with Darren Till, and said that many high-level jiu-jitsu practitioners in Sweden had come to help him with sparring.
Where in the source: Article quotes: convincing him to train less; high level jiu-jitsu guys in Sweden for sparring
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Allstars Training Center, homepage (Swedish), read 21 Oct 2026(opens in a new tab)
Allstars Training Center states on its website that it was founded in 2013 and lists BJJ and wrestling among its training forms.
Where in the source: Homepage: Allstars, grundat 2013; list of training forms
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Sportskeeda, report on Chimaev press-conference comments after UFC 319, 18 Aug 2025(opens in a new tab)
After the UFC 319 title win, Chimaev said at the post-fight press conference that he was thankful to his coach for giving him the black belt; Sportskeeda reported the remark on 18 August 2025.
Where in the source: Quote in article body: thankful for my coach that he gave me the black belt
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