Very few people knew who Khamzat Chimaev was when the Chechen-born newcomer agreed to replace Contender Series graduate Dusko Todorovic in a short-notice matchup with John Phillips in Abu Dhabi on July 15, but it didn’t take long for the MMA community to sit up and take notice of him once the Octagon door closed.
Chimaev put Phillips on the canvas in a flash and spent the entirety of the round working over the Welsh slugger, controlling one of his wrists and riding his legs as he unloaded on Phillips with punches on the ground in a way that elicited comparisons to lightweight kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov.