Renowned MMA coach Firas Zahabi invited Khamzat Chimaev to come train with him at Tristar Gym in Montreal following his loss at UFC 328.
Chimaev lost the UFC middleweight title when he dropped a close split decision to Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 328. The fight was very close, but in the end, two of the three New Jersey judges sided with the challenger, Strickland, and Chimaev lost his belt as a result.
During the fight, Chimaev dominated the first round with his grappling, but he completely fell apart in round two as he appeared to be exhausted. A tough weight cut at Friday’s official UFC 328 weigh-ins has been pointed to as one of the reasons why Chimaev didn’t have the conditioning and stamina to keep up with Strickland, who is known for being one of the most well-conditioned athletes in the sport. In the end, a bad gas tank was part of the reason why Chimaev lost his belt.
Firas Zahabi Invites Khamzat Chimaev to Montreal
Zahabi of Tristar Gym in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is known as one of the most successful coaches in MMA today. He was the longtime head trainer of UFC legend Georges St-Pierre, and he has also coached other great fighters over the years, such as Rory MacDonald, Arnold Allen, Kenny Florian, Robert Whittaker, and his brother, current UFC bantamweight contender Aiemann Zahabi, who fights Sean O’Malley at UFC Freedom 250.
Speaking on his YouTube channel while giving his post-UFC 328 analysis, Zahabi sent an invite out to Chimaev to come and train at Tristar Gym, promising him that he will never have the conditioning issues again that he showed against Strickland. He also invited Chimaev’s friend, UFC lightweight star Arman Tsarukyan, to tag along with him.
“I’m begging you, somebody get this out there. Khamzat, come train with me. Come to Montreal, come train with me. I promise you, if you come train with me, you’re not going to fade. I promise you,” Zahabi told Chimaev (via Bloody Elbow).
“Come and train with me. Bring Arman Tsarukyan. Khamzat Chimaev, Arman Tsarukyan, come train with me. Come see how we prepare to make sure that your fitness level will be better than ever, your striking will be sweeter than ever, and your footwork will be sweeter than ever. I promise you.
“If Khamzat Chimaev, you come and train with me, this will never happen to you again. I really hope he gets this message. Please come train with me and Georges St-Pierre, and we will make sure that we do our absolute best to get your hand raised, no matter what the cost, what the energy expenditure, how many hours we have to do, we will focus on you getting your hand raised. So, if Khamzat Chimaev is listening, or anybody who knows him, get this message to him. Please let him know he’s more than welcome, and I would love to have him as soon as possible training at my facility.”
Khamzat Chimaev Asks Sean Strickland for a Rematch
After UFC 328, Chimaev told UFC president Dana White that he wanted to move up to light heavyweight, which was his plan from the start. However, it appears he had a change of heart as he called out Strickland on social media for a rematch.
We will see what the UFC ends up doing, but if Chimaev wants to fight Strickland again and get his belt back, he’d better have a better gas tank this time, and perhaps training at Tristar Gym with Zahabi will help him.
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