On a Sunday morning in Huntington Beach, just 13 days before his first UFC title fight, Khamzat Chimaev paces barefoot through his temporary California home. The undefeated, No. 2-ranked middleweight is scheduled to challenge champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 in Chicago, an opportunity the MMA world has anticipated for years. But at this moment, Chimaev seems lost, aimlessly wandering his living room.
His training camp schedule has been upended. A 10 a.m. recovery session was pushed back after he slept in, played video games, and ate a late breakfast, only to be canceled altogether. His chef, Matteo Capodaglio, waits for direction.
“I told you this was going to be one of those days,” says Johnathon Michael Knapek, a longtime member of Chimaev’s management team known as “Sweep.” He watches the fighter from ten feet away. “He’s going Rodman.”
The reference is to NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman’s infamous 48-hour Las Vegas detour during the 1998 NBA Finals. For Chimaev, a “Rodman Day” is a necessary break from routine, a brief mutiny against the rigid structure of fight camp. In the past, it might have meant disappearing in a sports car for days. Now, it’s a quieter rebellion.
“You can see his fire starts to die out,” Sweep explains. “That’s when you know you need to let him loose for a day. Let him do what he wants, and he’ll come back a monster.”
Suddenly, Chimaev finds his purpose: he wants to go to the beach. A ten-minute drive away, it’s a place he has visited only twice during his month-long stay. After a 15-minute swim, his energy is visibly restored. He shadowboxes on the sand, mentions Du Plessis for the first time all day, and playfully throws a haymaker he claims will win him the title.
Back at the house, he playfully wrestles his Russian teammate Issa Isakov on a couch already broken from a previous session. Capodaglio serves freshly baked bread and fish, and the day is back on track.
“Most important recovery is here,” Chimaev says, pointing to his head. For his team, seeing him reset is a relief. It’s a positive sign ahead of his return to the U.S. Octagon, his first appearance since September 2022 due to persistent visa issues. It’s a moment that, for a long time, felt like it might never happen.
In mid-July, a rumor surfaced that Chimaev might retire if he wins the championship. Fellow middleweight Caio Borralho, a former training partner, said he had heard “whispers” of the plan. Chimaev scoffs at the suggestion.
“I don’t know where he hears these things,” he says. “This is not enough, just to go for one title. Hopefully, if I don’t get injured, I’m gonna defend the belt, fight for another belt.”
While the idea of a 31-year-old in his prime retiring seems absurd—especially after his dominant first-round submission of former champion Robert Whittaker nine months ago—the rumor wasn’t entirely baseless. Chimaev has faced legitimate, career-threatening challenges.
In 2021, a severe case of COVID-19 led to multiple hospitalizations in Las Vegas, Sweden, and his native Chechnya. At one point, after coughing up blood during training, he posted on Instagram that he was considering retirement, sparking a global response from the MMA community.
“It was not looking good,” Sweep recalls. “We were just hoping he survived.”
During his medical evaluations, Russian physicians diagnosed a thyroid issue, and Chimaev underwent a procedure to remove part of the gland in the spring of 2021. Though he has remained undefeated since, his health has been fragile. He was ill before his October 2023 fight against Kamaru Usman and hospitalized afterward. He was hospitalized again after pulling out of a fight in June 2024, an episode UFC CEO Dana White described as him falling “violently ill.”
These health concerns have forced significant lifestyle changes. To protect his compromised immune system, Chimaev now avoids public interaction, splitting his time between his home village in Chechnya and Abu Dhabi, where he also holds citizenship. “I have to be careful,” Chimaev says. “Better to stay home, prepare for the fight.”
Compounding his health issues were international travel restrictions. As a prominent Chechen citizen, his association with the republic’s head, Ramzan Kadyrov—who is under U.S. sanctions—created undeniable visa complications. His last two fights took place in Abu Dhabi. The situation shifted only after Chimaev became a UAE citizen and, as he noted at a recent media event, a new U.S. administration took office. “Now, Donald Trump is here, so we go for a fight,” he stated. His new visa is valid for two years, and his team feels it has a better handle on managing his health.
“Dark times make a person stronger,” Chimaev reflects. “I like to be going through tough things.”
Retired UFC veteran Ilir Latifi remembers watching security footage from Allstars Training Center in Sweden, where Chimaev lived in a small storage room for two years. “The guys used to send videos from inside the gym, like 1 or 2 in the morning—Khamzat hitting the bag by himself,” Latifi says. “Some fighters are just special like that.”
That legendary work ethic, which nearly derailed his career when he refused to stop training with COVID-19, is rooted in a deep-seated drive. His jiu-jitsu trainer, Alan “Finfou” Nascimento, believes it stems from his past. “He came to Sweden when he was 19 as a refugee. He was born into a country at war,” Nascimento says. “He is fighting to take care of his loved ones, this is what motivates him.”
Chimaev has largely fulfilled that mission. He is building a family compound in Chechnya and has remodeled his childhood home for his father. Nearby, a large MMA gym is under construction to provide opportunities for local youth. His mother, who once went hungry to ensure her children were fed, now lives comfortably. She often asks if he has become champion yet, recalling he once told her he might stop fighting after achieving that goal.
Though he admits he doesn’t care much for the belt itself, he is still driven by money—not for luxury, but to help others. “I’ve seen the good life—crazy cars, private jets,” he says. “I want to make more money to help somebody who needs it.” He feels a responsibility to his teammates, a group that can swell to 40 fighters in Russia. “If somebody from my team becomes a UFC champion, maybe then I can stop.”
Talk of winning titles in three weight classes—a feat never accomplished in the UFC—still lingers. But first, he faces Du Plessis, a two-time defending champion who has built a career on upsetting expectations, with recent victories over Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker, and Sean Strickland. Despite the champion’s credentials, Chimaev is the betting favorite.
As the challenger, he will walk to the Octagon first, a moment of solitude before the storm. His cornerman, Nascimento, will likely remind him of his family and his journey. But Chimaev insists he won’t need the motivation.
“If I go to the cage, my heart, it’s closed,” he says. “It’s going to fight anyway. My heart wants to fight.” It’s this innate quality that makes him so special—and why, despite all the setbacks, his best may still be ahead.
