Khamzat Chimaev put on quite a show at UFC 267. In his main card match against Li Jingliang, he completely controlled the pace of the fight and managed to submit his opponent with a Rear Naked Choke. As a matter of fact, while he was taking Jingliang down and then putting him to sleep with his submission, Chimaev was talking to Dana White!
In a post-fight interview, he explained what he was saying to the UFC’s president:
I said: “Dana, I am the king here!” I could’ve taken him down earlier, but I wanna talk to Dana White, he wasn’t watching the fight. He was on his phone or something. Brother, don’t miss my fights. Don’t look at your phone.
Disfruten la rápida y dominante actuación de @KChimaev 🤯 #UFC267 pic.twitter.com/ddReMbc5zX
— UFC Español (@UFCEspanol) October 30, 2021
Alan Finfou is Chimaev’s BJJ coach who, in an interview for the “Canal do Marinho” YouTube channel, explained why Chimaev is such a good grappler:
When they don’t have a fight scheduled, they [his athletes] need to be training on the ground and, of course, Jiu-Jitsu in the Gi. We cannot forget our essence. When there’s a fight announced, we take off our kimonos and start working for MMA.
Chimaev, for him, is the final of the Worlds (Jiu-Jitsu) every day. In each training session, the UFC belt is worth.
Check out the rest of the interview here (in Portuguese):
