Khamzat Chimaev seems to be a bit more progressive despite of his traditional Muslim upbringing. Unlike many Dagestani UFC stars, Chimaev doesn’t frown upon women in the training room and was even spotted rolling with a friend a while back.
This act of Khamzat has been compared to Khabib, who is known for not even shaking hands with women and not looking into the eyes of women during interviews. At AKA, Khabib has trained alongside female mixed martial artists but has always been dismissive of them publicly.
In an interview, the Dagestani was asked if he had advice for female athletes, he said: “Be a fighter inside your home. All the time, finish your husband, smash him really bad”.
Chimaev recently appeared at a youth event in Grozny, Chechnya and answered some questions from the crowd.
“How do you feel about the fact that a girl is doing some kind of sport?” – one audience member asked.
Chimaev responded:
“I feel good. Sport is always good. It’s good for health. If we don’t stay at home, we should do sports or work or study.”
“If we do sports or work or study, we will progress and move.”
Chimaev also answered an array of other question including an interesting question about motivation.
“I recently watched a guy who competed in MMA. He had no legs, but he won. I follow this guy. He motivates me. If such a guy works and achieves success, then I can do everything. I am very motivated.”
Chimaev went on to be thankful for the support of his mother, who believed in him even when his brother didn’t.
“My mom. Unfortunately, not everyone has a mother now. Every mother would believe in their children.”
“My mom always believed in me, even when my brother told me to quit this sport and work.”
“My mom said that if I wanted to become an athlete, I should work on it.”