Firas Zahabi is up there as one of the best MMA coaches in the sport. Notably known for his work alongside UFC Legend Georges St. Pierre, Zahabi has also trained other champions like Vitor Belfort, Robert Whittaker, and Rory Macdonald.
Recently, Firas Zahabi talked about one of the UFC’s most promising prospects, the Chechen Khamzat Chimaev.
Khamzat is a welterweight in the UFC. The Chechen is undefeated in his MMA career, and his UFC run has been one of the most impressive UFC starts anyone has ever had in the organization.
To put it into perspective, in Chimaev’s first two bouts for the organization, he was able to land 192 strikes while only absorbing two.
Chimaev also broke the record for the quickest turnaround between UFC wins in the modern era.
During UFC on ESPN 13 on July 16, 2020, Khamzat submitted John Phillips with a D’arce choke in the second round of the bout. Only ten days later, Khamzat battled Rhys McKee for UFC on ESPN 14 and TKO’d him in the very first round.
In an episode of the “Blood Brothers podcast”, Zahabi spoke about what he thinks of the prospect.
“He is a lot better than people know yet” Zahabi spoke about Chimaev. “People don’t know Khamzat enough yet.”
“I think the UFC wants to familiarize him [with the public], and then give him a mega-fight.”
Given his close friendship with UFC Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, Zahabi preferred not to talk about a potential matchup of his friend against Chimaev.
“I love Kamaru, I know him , I’ve trained with him…” Zahabi said. “So I’d rather not say, but for me, it’s a 50/50 fight.”
However, when questioned about a potential matchup against middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, Zahabi was way more decisive with his response.
“Adesanya, yeah. I think he beats Adesanya.” The coach said, “mark my words if Khamzat fights Adesanya, he beats Adesanya.”
“I have no doubt in this.”
Chimaev has a very difficult task ahead of him. The Chechen will be fighting against the number 2 ranked fighter in the division – Gilbert Burns.
Burns and Chimaev will are scheduled to meet on the main card of UFC 273, taking place on April 9, 2022, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida