Khamzat Chimaev is set to face his biggest challenge thus far at UFC 294. The undefeated prospect will be putting his winning streak on the line against the former welterweight king, Kamaru Usman. Amidst the buildup to this fight, the UFC Fight Pass Instagram account uploaded clips of the professional MMA debut of ‘Borz’. However, he looks unrecognizable without his iconic beard in that clip from 2018.
In the clip that dates back to May 26, 2018, Khamzat Chimaev can be seen facing Gard Olve Sagen at IRFA 14. Furthermore, Chimaev dominated his opponent on the feet, in the clinch position, and on the ground. He wins the one-sided match via ground and pound in round 2.
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His beardless look caught the MMA fans by surprise. After seeing ‘Borz’ without a beard, the fans had a lot to say about the look. Let’s see how the fans feel about beardless Khamzat.
Fans react to the beardless version of Khamzat Chimaev
An Instagram user commented, “Me who always believed that meme was real“, referring to the infamous, beardless Khamzat meme. “I see why he got a beard,” said another fan after watching the clip. One of the fans refused to admit the existence of the clip by saying, “I will pretend this doesn’t exist.
“Beardless Khamzat is the final level,” said another Instagram user. Finally, one Instagram user compared him to the current middleweight champion by saying, “That’s Sean wtf.” It looks like the MMA community has got another mythical fighter to add to their list.
Exhales a sigh of relief* ehh khamzat without his beard ain’t so scary after all 😂😂💀 we good WW division we good pic.twitter.com/ZejotY8uqN
— Rainy (@therainvvs) September 22, 2020
Khamzat Chimaev will be making his middleweight debut against Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 this weekend. If Chimaev wins, he will be next in line to face Sean Strickland for the middleweight belt. Initially, he was supposed to fight Paulo Costa but he had to withdraw due to a recent surgery.
According to the odds, Chimaev is the favorite to win this fight while ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is an underdog after a long time. It will be very interesting to see how this match plays out since both of them have elite wrestling and decent striking. Furthermore, a victory over Kamaru Usman will solidify Khamzat as a legitimate contender.
If y’all wondering what Khamzat looks like without beard pic.twitter.com/L8imA7hCSK
— KHAMZAT SMESH 🐺🇵🇸 (@CONOR_high_) September 4, 2022
Kamaru Usman has one of the best takedown defenses in the UFC and if Khamzat Chimaev will be able to take him down, it will be a very big achievement. On the other hand, Usman is known to have knee-related issues which can benefit ‘Borz’ during their match.
What are your opinions on beardless Khamzat? Let us know in the comments below.