What BJJ belt does Khamzat Chimaev wear? Grappling and wrestling record

Khamzat Chimaev is preparing to take on former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a truly high-intensity spectacle at UFC 308. The co-main event fight in Abu Dhabi will finally take place after it was canceled due to Chimaev’s illness. However, this time he is ready to continue his winning streak.

After a win against Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, “Borz” was recently spotted sparring against Olympic gold medalist Razambek Zhamalov. So it looks like he wants to give his best against what is probably his toughest challenge yet. But given the fact that he can go one-on-one against an Olympic gold medalist, many will wonder how good Khamzat Chimaev’s own wrestling skills are and what martial arts styles he is a master of. Well, let’s figure it all out.

Is Khamzat Chimaev a BJJ black belt?

Khamzat Chimaev has honed his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills under the guidance of his BJJ instructor Alan “Finfou” Nascimento. Immediately after his win against Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, his trainer decided to promote the Russian to brown belt in BJJ. Wearing a brown belt is an impressive achievement. This means that with about six to eight years of targeted training, “Borz” will truly master advanced skills and maneuvers. This was evident in his fight against Usman, where his ground fighting and grappling techniques helped him to a unanimous victory against the black belt.

It was truly a proud moment for Khamzat Chimaev when he was promoted. In the interview with Daniel Cormier after the fight, he even revealed that this belt really meant a lot to him. He said: “This means so much to me.” With this mastery of his moves, “Borz” has truly made a big name for himself in the MMA world. However, BJJ is not the only martial art that has helped him rise to prominence. And guess why he can execute his BJJ so well? Because of his strong wrestling base!

Everything we know about Khamzat Chimaev’s wrestling career

Khamzat Chimaev began training to be a wrestler at the age of 5. This was because he grew up in Chechnya, a region known for its strong wrestling culture. So that early lead certainly gave him a strong base that helped him win a bronze medal at the Russian National Championships in the junior category. However, that wasn’t enough for “Borz” as he decided to move to Sweden to further improve his skills.

“Borz” quickly rose through the freestyle wrestling ranks and began dominating the Swedish circuit, winning the Swedish Freestyle National Championship in the 86kg category in 2016 and 2017, while also winning the 92kg category in 2018 dominated by becoming champion. His dominance was reflected in a perfect 12-0 run with three pins, seven technical falls and a total score of 105 points. “Borz” also took part in four sambo fights and a few judo competitions.

With such a long history of dominance, it’s no wonder Khamzat Chimaev has a record of 13-0-0 in his MMA career. However, he would face one of the toughest UFC fighters, Robert Whittaker. The Australian comes into the fight after a round 1 win against Ikram Aliskerov. Chimaev will certainly have to draw on his wealth of experience to emerge victorious from this duel. What do you think? Will Chimaev be able to win the fight? Let us know in the comments.