5 best Khamzat Chimaev finishes outside the UFC

#2. Khamzat Chimaev vs. Mzwandile Hlongwa

In his final fight before joining the UFC, Khamzat Chimaev locked horns with South African fighter Mzwandile Hlongwa at BRAVE CF 27. Both Chimaev and Hlongwa came into the bout with perfect professional records, making this contest a high stakes affair.

Hlongwa was a highly-touted knockout artist who was competing under the BRAVE CF banner for the very first time. All the wins in his professional career thus far came via KO/TKO and he was looking to add Chimaev to his list of victims.

The fight started in the same way as almost all of Chimaev's previous bouts. 'Borz' secured a takedown and controlled Hlongwa for the entirety of the first round, negating the the South African's striking prowess.

In the second round, Chimaev got a hold of Hlongwa's hips and lifted him into the air. Instead of directly taking him down, the Russian-born Swede carried his opponent across the octagon and dumped him in front of his cornermen. He once again controlled the exchanges on the mat before locking in a D'Arce choke that put Hlongwa to sleep.

Watch the Khamzat Chimaev vs. Mzwandile Hlongwa fight below:

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#1. Khamzat Chimaev vs. Ikram Aliskerov

Looking at the other four entries in this article, it's clear to see what Khamzat Chimaev wants to do every time he steps inside the octagon. 'Borz' is always looking for a takedown inside the first 10 seconds of a fight, and more often than not, tends to have his way.

In his penultimate fight under the BRAVE CF banner, he took on Ikram Aliskerov, a combat sambo world champion with a high-level wrestling pedigree. Aliskerov held a professional record of 8-0 at the time and many believed he would be the one to derail Chimaev's hype train.

Aliskerov's sambo background served him well in the first two minutes of the bout. The Russian managed to stop all three of Chimaev's takedown attempts in the opening exchanges and it became apparent very soon that neither man was able to hold his opponent down on the mat.

Realizing that he wasn't going to have his way, Chimaev ditched the wrestling and started striking with his Dagestani counterpart. Halfway through the first round of the fight, 'Borz' landed a picture-perfect uppercut that knocked Aliskerov out cold.

Watch the Khamzat Chimaev vs. Ikram Aliskerov fight below:

Khamzat Chimaev's victory over Ikram Aliskerov represented a lot more than just another win on his professional record. With all due respect, every opponent he faced before Aliskerov wasn't of a high level.

Marko Kisic has a record of 5-3. Sidney Wheeler retired following his loss to Chimaev, with his record standing at 7-4. Ole Magnor hasn't fought since 2019 and has a poor 4-6 win-loss ratio. It's evident that Kisic, Wheeler and Magnor aren't UFC-caliber fighters.

Today, Aliskerov boasts an impressive professional record of 12-1. He is a world-class fighter and currently competes in Khabib Nurmagomedov's promotion, Eagle FC. At just 29, he could very well join the UFC down the line and would be a real problem for anyone he goes up against, further highlighting just how good Chimaev is.