UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev is set to return to his wrestling roots, signing with RAF to compete on the mats after his upcoming title defense.
Chimaev, who holds a 15-0 MMA record and is described as one of the most dominant and popular fighters on the UFC roster, is scheduled to defend his middleweight belt against Sean Strickland on May 9 in the UFC 328 main event. His move to RAF was announced during RAF 8 on Saturday.
Chimaev began in wrestling after moving to Sweden before transitioning fully to MMA, and he is expected to make his RAF wrestling debut in the summer. The development has already caught the attention of Olympic champion Kyle Snyder, who has expressed interest in a potential matchup.
“I’ve seen clips of him wrestling and I think he’s pretty good,” Snyder said. “He’s similar to Arman [Tsarukyan] where you watch him wrestle and you’re like wow, pretty good. They know what they’re doing. So I think that’s an interesting matchup.”
Chimaev captured the UFC middleweight title by defeating Dricus du Plessis by decision this past August and has nine wins in the UFC heading into his first title defense at UFC 328.
