The breakout star of the inaugural UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, Khamzat Chimaev was almost instantly a record breaker and soon a veritable social media star. Then his career, and his health, stalled.
Having raced to 3-0 in the UFC in the space of two tornado months, with wins at welterweight and middleweight swelling his professional mixed martial record to 9-0, the Chechen-born athlete was dismantling opponents.
Until Covid-19 broke him down.
At one point, while age only 26, Chimaev reportedly thought he would die. Unable to shake the virus’ lingering effects, as his return to the octagon was cancelled and cancelled again, he seemed to decide on retirement.
Thankfully now, Chimaev is fully recovered and back in Abu Dhabi to compete for the first time in 13 months. And he’s chomping at the bit. Seemingly literally.
“I'm going to eat him up, like I do always,” Chimaev told media on Wednesday in the capital, three days out from his clash against No 11-ranked welterweight Li Jingliang at UFC 267. “Nine fights, nine finishes.
“My game is going, 'Kill, take his heart.' Nothing more."
Chimaev’s comeback represents one of the principal subplots on a fight night at Etihad Arena that features two title bouts. Before those, Islam Makhachev meets Dan Hooker a must-see lightweight encounter.
If the hype for the Sweden-based Chimaev is sky-high - his Instagram account is well beyond 2 million followers - it feels warranted. In July last year, he submitted the experienced John Phillips in the second round on promotional debut at du Forum. He then made history for the quickest turnaround between wins when he dominated newcomer Rhys McKee, at the same venue, 10 days later.
On his big Las Vegas bow, in September, Chimaev crumpled veteran Gerald Meerschaert in 17 seconds. Across three bouts, spanning only 66 days, the UFC’s latest sensation had landed 196 significant strikes. He absorbed two.
But Covid struck, and struck hard. Bookings with Leon Edwards got repeatedly shelved.
Yet here he is again, with his killer lines and distinctive drawl and fierce glaze. And, at times, his almost comical insouciance.
"Actually, no,” Chimaev said when asked if he knew much about his upcoming opponent (Li is a real threat, last time out recording a standout knockout of Santiago Ponzinibbio in Abu Dhabi). “I didn't know this guy was in the UFC at all.
“When I hear his name, I'm like, 'What?' I can't [say] his name. I see his highlights, his highlight against Neil Magny, and he lost that fight. I don't like to watch my opponents. I'm more focused on what I'm going to do.
“Like last time, I’ll go in, smash this guy. If you focus on what he does, he's going to do something. But if you focus on what you're going to do, you do everything."
Still, Li constitutes the only ranked competitor Chimaev will have fought thus far in his fledgling UFC career. So, in theory, he forms his most difficult challenge to date.
Open workouts at W Hotel Yas Island
"I don't think so, brother,” Chimaev said with a shrug. “Always people going to talk someone is better. But I'm going to go and take his head.”
Chimaev, who said surprisingly that he has not yet been vaccinated against Covid - “I have to do that when I go back to Sweden. If it's a good thing to be healthy, why not." – is concentrated at present on welterweight, he said.
He is keen, also, to get back to churning out win after win, irrespective of the time between them.
“It’s up to UFC,” he said. “I'm a warrior, I come here, kill everyone. I want to show who I am. I want to beat all the top guys and become champion.”
Chimaev, 27, said he did have “big respect” to Li for taking the fight, but that he expected another fearsome display on Saturday would once more have rivals running scared.
“I hope so,” he said. “But I don't think these guys want to fight me after this fight. We'll see what happens after this fight.”
It appeared, though, that he was finally glad to be back in the spotlight.
"This good, brother," he said. "It's nice, amazing to be here in the UFC and fight. I enjoy it more than everything. Speak with you, other people, it's nice.
“It was hard, always been hard. I've only been fighting four or five years in MMA. I was watching before, and that was also hard. I want to fight always in the UFC. And now I'm here, I fight this Saturday, and I'm hungry. More hungry than I've been. I have been without my meat for more than a year.”
Fans at Etihad Arena, not to mention bonus-cheque-writing UFC president Dana White, could be in for another treat, Chimaev said.
"Just tell them, brother, 'Kill, eat him up, get some meat, and maybe 50Gs',” he concluded. “We'll see."
UFC 267 press conferences
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
The years Ramadan fell in May
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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