How important Khamzat Chimaev’s title win was for Chechen Oktagon MMA star: “We played with bullets when we were kids” | BJPenn.com

Khamzat Chimaev stands high on the proverbial mountain of UFC’s middleweight division, greatly inspiring up-and-coming fighters who emerged from the literal mountains of Chechnya. The Chechen MMA fighter in this context is Tamerlan Dulatov who will test his skills with Henrique Melo at OCTAGON 78: Eckerlin vs. Trušček on October 18.

Dulatov appeared on Bowks talk and when he mentioned the name of Chimaev, the dynamism of the Chechen compatriots seemed strong. When Dulatov discussed what it meant to see Chimaev rise to become a UFC middleweight champion as a fellow Chechen fighter [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Brother, I swear I can’t even believe it, man. Still I can’t believe it. It just happened. But man, a kid from Chechnya who grew up in the mountains somewhere, man. You know, like there’s nothing, man. There’s no hope. There’s nothing, you know. We’ll grow up in wars, man. We played with bullets. I swear to God, we played with bullets when we were kids, you know.”

“And this guy came from Chechnya, flew to Sweden as a refugee, like he grew up as a wrestler, man. Made it to the UFC 2020 and 2025 champion, man. With so many problems, with injuries. Man, people don’t even respect it, 100%. Even people giving him respect isn’t enough. You know what I mean? This guy is such a beast, man.”

Khamzat Chimaev “checked [Dricus du Plessis] on the ground as if it were nothing,” said Dulatov

Continuing to explain his admiration for Khamzat Chimaev and their personal bond, Dulatov continued [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“What he did to this guy, 20, 24, well, 21-22 minutes, he controlled him on the ground like it’s nothing, you know what I mean? I even think Khamzat would finish him [Dricus du Plessis] but it was such an important fight that he didn’t take any chances, you know. I like to do more than is necessary, you know.”

“Brother, man, I love this man. We’re also in touch, you know. He’s also, like you said, Chechen. We talk to each other, you know, we also [congratulate] he and we are like; He’s a really, really good guy, man. I like him.”