Everybody knows Khamzat Chimaev gets tired.
Even early in his UFC career — back when Chimaev’s fights were not exceeding the six-minute mark — that was the question about “Borz.” He’s a singular force unlike almost anything in UFC history in that literally nobody can stop his first round wrestling barrage, but what happens afterward? Like a knockout artist who swings for the fence from the first bell, everybody knows those punches lose their sting by round two.
Over the years, the “Borz” gas tank has
consistently struggled when met with resistance. This was notable against Gilbert Burns back in 2022, as the smaller Brazilian managed to drop Chimaev in the second after forcing him into a standup war. Given just a couple of days to prepare, Kamaru Usman nearly ended Chimaev’s unbeaten run a year later, surviving the first round and then arguably winning the next two.
Of course, between these moments were surges of domination. Robert Whittaker theoretically had the skill to punish Chimaev’s fatal flaw on the grand stage. Having survived the ground attacks of Yoel Romero and Ronaldo Souza, Whittaker is more than proven defensively. Chimaev ran him over, however, and thus his shortcomings could be forgotten.
For a time.
The Dricus du Plessis strategy for Khamzat relied entirely on waiting for the Chechen to gas out. In the process, however, “DDP” and his team failed to factor in the “resistance” element. By laying on the canvas for so long without trying to scramble, du Plessis extended Chimaev’s functional gas tank quite a bit … and still nearly rallied for a fifth round miracle.
All of this is to say again: everybody knows Khamzat’s Achilles Heel. Until Sean Strickland faced him at UFC 328 last night (Sat., May 9, 2026), however, it never actually cost Chimaev his undefeated record or championship belt.
What separated Strickland from the rest? Having five rounds to work certainly helped. More vitally, Strickland has always been good at outlasting his opposition. He usually does so on the feet with his jab-and-teep style, but Strickland has turned away many takedown attempts and then been the busier man late. In a way, he’s been preparing for a style like Khamzat his entire career.
This defeat puts Khamzat in a strange position. On one hand, he remains one of the two best wrestlers in the sport. His submission game is devastating and can still finish anybody who does not mind their position very carefully. Russian wrestling has never been more dominant in the UFC, and “Borz” is still one of the finest representatives.
Yet, a bad gas tank is among the worst flaws a fighter can suffer. There are countless examples of mediocre fighters beating up much more skilled and athletic ones simply because the latter man is too tired to do anything. A fighter could be worse than Khamzat at wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and kickboxing, yet still defeat him through persistence and good strategy.
Now that Strickland has succeeded, more will try. The four-minute mile was once considered impossible, but after it was accomplished, it grew common. This loss has cost Khamzat his aura and fearsome reputation, because the whole roster saw him pull guard twice in round two. Everybody from Bo Nickal to Jiri Prochazka knows that if they can scramble hard for five minutes, they’ll be dealing with an entirely different man sooner than later.
Is there a fix? Not without revamping his entire attack. Khamzat is already working with one of the sport’s top conditioning athletes, but the problem remains: he’s a sprinter. He’s built to charge. Wrestling is an absurdly intense activity not meant to be done for 25 minutes, and now future opposition has a roadmap to follow.
As it stands, Chimaev is a nearly unique kind of glass cannon. With that term, we usually think of men like Alistair Overeem, big hitters who could be knocked out by any seemingly innocuous blow. Chimaev, conversely, can absolutely dominate and potentially finish anybody, yet there’s also a hole in his game that any fighter could theoretically exploit.
The Light Heavyweight division is officially on notice.
