Khamzat Chimaev challenges himself: two fights in an evening

MMA is a full-contact sport consisting of various fighting techniques and martial arts. It is based on three main components: punches, grappling and ground fighting. Successful fighters usually have exceptional strength, speed and awareness. They know when to defend themselves and when to attack the enemy.

A bold challenge

The great Khamzat Chimaev is a 27-year-old Swedish MMA fighter of Chechen origin. He began his career as an amateur and made his professional debut just a year later. The fighter never loses in the matches. As of 2021, he is on the 11th line of the official international rating of the sports organisation in the welterweight division. He has the title of the national champion of Sweden in freestyle wrestling in 2018.

The athlete did not avoid contracting COVID-19 infection. Despite strong immunity, he suffered from the disease severity. At the beginning of 2021, after a long and difficult treatment, Chimaev announced the end of his sports career. However, after only five months, he returned to professional sports again and still continues to make his fans proud today.

The athlete never ceases to surprise his audience with various challenges. The head of the UFC, Dana White, said that Chimaev wants to have two fights in one evening. The fighter is dead set on and is not joking. However, the fans do not doubt it and are already prepared to bet on MMA on their favourite player. Many are concerned: provided that Khamzat is permitted such a defiant act, will he have enough strength and be able to win two fights?

Despite the fact that in the UFC, it is customary to look down on classic boxing, the MMA federation itself is gradually adopting its main advantages and disadvantages. For example, now, elite MMA fighters, just like famous boxers, prefer to participate in fights less often. Sometimes, the battles take place only two times a year, partly because of the danger of this sport: participants are often forced to miss matches for health reasons of themselves or their rivals.

The Russian bear of ММА

MMA veterans say that athletes participated in three fights a day in the past, and even if they were injured, they remained in the fighting cage. The legendary fighter Oleg Taktarov has personally experienced wrestling in this survival mode.

Oleg is actually a unique person because, in addition to sports, he has pursued a career in directing, acting, TV and even took part in social work. In MMA, he became famous after the UFC 6 “Clash of the Titans” sports organisation tournament, which took place in 1995. Taktarov had had his failures in the past, so nothing could stop him that day. Canadian opponent surrendered on the 57th second from the start of the match. Oleg Taktarov used a chokehold technique from sambo. By the way, he was awarded the title of Master of Sport of the USSR in sambo back in 1990.

The semi-final turned out to be even more successful and shorter for the Russian legend: his opponent surrendered on the 9th second of the fight because of Taktarov’s guillotine. The guillotine is a kind of combat manoeuvre, which consists of strangling your opponent with the elbow from the front, leaving them with no chance of winning. So far, no MMA fighter has been able to beat this record. Modern athletes believe that it is still impossible to repeat and surpass such an outstanding result.

However, some people dispute this record and do not believe it. It is thought that this competition was fake and rigged. And, indeed, Taktarov and his rival Macias had the same sports manager. This is the only argument the opponents have, so this point of view has no evidence and cannot be considered truthful.

So we have now approached the final of the UFC 6 “Clash of the Titans” tournament. The rival of the “Russian bear” was the “Tank”. “Tank” is the nickname of huge and rough David Abbott. The fight was frustrating and too long for all participants. In the first minutes of the match, Abbott looked more serious and determined to win. However, Oleg waited for the right moment for a trademark attack. There were several unsuccessful attempts to shift the fighting on his side, but the Russian athlete did not give up and managed to triumph over his main rival in the end. Thus, the great and mighty Oleg Taktarov became the first Russian champion of the UFC sports organisation. Although, legally, Oleg’s title has not yet been approved.

The 7th UFC tournament, where Taktarov fought for the title of champion against Ken Shamrock, was held in the same year. The fight lasted over 30 minutes, and the judges could not identify the winner. Adding three minutes didn’t help either. As a result, the judges awarded a unanimous draw.

Every year, the tournament “The Ultimate Ultimate” brings together the strongest fighters of the year. The year 1995, which became decisive for Oleg, was no exception. Having reached the tournament’s final, Taktarov again faced his main rival of that time, Dan Severn. The fight lasted 30 minutes. In the end, the Russian bear lost by a unanimous decision of the judges. This was the reason Taktarov left the UFC.

After a while, the UFC sports organisation surveyed the fans to determine the most outstanding fighters in the organisation’s history. Oleg Taktarov, of course, was in the top ten. It couldn’t have been any other way.

Returning back to our time, it is difficult to say whether Khamzat Chimaev will succeed in fulfilling his desire and have two fights in an evening. No one doubts the skills, experience and, especially, the fighter’s character. But the MMA fights are entirely different now. There are a lot of opponents, and sports training leaves no room for doubt about the seriousness of their intentions. Moreover, many new pharmacological bans have appeared. Now all drugs that increase endurance and vivacity are strictly prohibited. Every year there are more and more new names of the athletes that show exciting fights with unexpected results. Fight nights occur every week, which means that the spectators indeed have enough fights to watch.