Light-heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson recently talked glowingly about UFC welterweight star Khamzat Chimaev, having trained with him in Sweden over the years, and now another 205lb star Anthony Smith has revealed that he also knew about ‘Borz’ reputation long before he entered the Octagon.
“Other people said it first, so now I can say it out loud,” Smith said on Michael Bisping’s podcast. “I’ve heard the stories of Chimaev for years, like a couple years before he was even in the UFC. I remember hearing his name, some young kid that’s ragdolling Ilir Latifi and Gustafsson down in Sweden.
“Even when he finally made it to the UFC, beat a couple of guys and looked really good, I kept that to myself until other people had told the story like, ‘Hey man, I’ve been hearing the stories about this kid beating the sh-t out of those guys for a long time.”
Chimaev is currently undefeated with a perfect 10-0 record, including four wins in a row in the UFC so far, with his latest victory being a first round rear-naked choke victory over Li Jingliang at UFC 267 in October after returning from a year-long absence due to battling long-Covid.
Now Chimaev is awaiting his next fight booking, with former title contender Gilbert Burns rumored to be one of the front-runners to potentially face him next.
