Khamzat Chimaev Defends Ilia Topuria’s Trash Talk: ‘He is a Decent Guy’

Khamzat Chimaev only has words of praise for Ilia Topuria.

Chimaev and Topuria previously trained together at the AllStars Training Centre in Stockholm, Sweden. The two also competed under the same umbrella of Brave FC in 2019, both serving as prominent prospects worthy of scouting by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. “Borz” noted that the dedication that eventually made Topuria a UFC champ was evident in the Georgian-Spaniard even then. Chimaev told Adam Zubayraev on his “Hustle Vlog” on Thursday:

“He already was a top fighter at Brave FC, just like me,” Chimaev remarked. “You could see that he is a hard worker and wants to achieve things. And he achieved everything that you can achieve in this sport.”

The fighter formerly known as “La Leyenda” won the title against Alexander Volkanovski last year and defended it by knocking out Max Holloway for the first time. Topuria has since moved up to lightweight and will challenge Charles Oliveira for the vacant title at UFC 317 in June. Topuria has ramped up his trash-talking game even more going into this one, albeit not towards his upcoming opponent. Topuria called former champ Islam Makhachev a “coward” for vacating his belt and moving up to welterweight. Topuria also vowed to finish Oliveira in the least painful way, as he likes “do Bronxs” a lot.

While some find Topuria’s trash talk disrespectful, Chimaev thinks fights won’t sell without some drama. Having spent time with Topuria, Chimaev posits that the former featherweight champ is a nice person once you get to know him.

“It wouldn’t be interesting if everyone stayed quiet. But we spent some time together, talked and ate together. He is a decent guy in real life,” “Borz” concluded.