Khamzat Chimaev made his stance known when he forced Robert Whittaker to tap out at UFC 308. Needless to say, he delivered on his promise of defeating ‘The Reaper’.
As the world of mixed martial arts commended ‘Borz’ for his impressive victory, Ikram Aliskerov also chimed in to praise the Chechen Wolf. But little did he know that Chechen fighter had a response ready for Aliskerov.
Chimaev and Whittaker were initially slated to fight during UFC’s debut in Saudi Arabia. However, ‘Borz’ fell violently ill and was hospitalized just a couple of days before the night of the fight.
In his stead, Aliskerov swooped in to fight Whittaker in the main event. However, the Makhachkala-born MMA star faced a first-round defeat as Whittaker’s right uppercut sent Aliskerov to the dream realm.
Later, Chimaev successfully avenged the Russian with his UFC 308 win.
Soon after his 14th victory, the Chechen Wolf took to Instagram and shared a picture of him walking away from a fallen Whittaker. In the caption, he wrote, “blood for blood this is KAVKAZ!”
This inspired Aliskerov to drop down in the comments section and put forth two flexed biceps emojis. No doubt, he was happy with a fellow Russian’s win over ‘The Reaper’. And Chimaev happened to notice that and responded with a hugging emoji.
But during the post-fight interview, Chimaev poured out his respect for ‘The Reaper’. Before setting his eyes on the middleweight championship title, ‘Borz’ said, “That guy, thanks, Rob. I love you, my brother.
You legend, I respect you took the fight with me, no one wants to fight with me. All the champions are running from me.”
While Chimaev and Aliskerov seemed pretty friendly on the internet, they share a violent history. Well, ‘Borz’ was the only one who managed to secure a win against Aliskerov.
The relationship between Khamzat Chimaev and Ikram Aliskerov
Back in 2019, Chimaev and Aliskerov faced each other at BRAVE Combat Federation 23 – Pride & Honor in Martyr Rashid Al-Ziyoud Hall Boxing Arena.
Although ‘Borz’ has often dominated the MMA cage with his wrestling skills, it was a move similar to the one that Whittaker used, that helped Chimaev defeat his Russian opponent. It was indeed an uppercut that put Aliskerov down in the first round of the bout.
Even though Aliskerov was one of the toughest fights of Chimaev’s career, it wasn’t enmity that connected the fighters.
In the press conference for UFC 273, the Chechen fighter stood in favor of Aliskerov and said, “I think one guy I met in Brave, Ikram Aliskerov, he has to be in the UFC. That guy’s good. I think he won five fights after me. That guy’s really good.”
On the other hand, Aliskerov revealed that having a rematch against Chimaev was nothing short of a dream fight for him, during an interview with Shesh Bros, back in 2022.
He said, “To be honest, the rematch is my dream fight. But I’m not going to cut to welterweight any more. Yeah, I’d love to fight him at middleweight. It’s a true dream fight of mine.”
However, Chimaev is now set for a well-deserved shot at the middleweight championship title. He would next go up against the winner of Dricus Du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland.
But will his undefeated spree break against DDP or Strickland? Well, that remains to be seen.
What do you think of the interaction between Aliskerov and Chimaev? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.