Khamzat Chimaev's former sparring partner makes eye-opening remark about 'game-changer' training session: "It woke me up a little bit"

Khamzat Chimaev is quite the force inside the UFC, and the surging middleweight inspires those he trains with to up their level in the sport. Appearing on MMA Canada, Blake Oswald covered several subjects ahead of his headlining fight against Abdel Abdelaziz at FLA 18 on Feb. 1.

One of the topics discussed was Oswald's trip to the well-regarded Bangtao Muay Thai in Q2 of 2024, where he got in some good work inside that gym with Chimaev.

When discussing his anecdotal experiences working with the surging UFC middleweight contender, Oswald said:

"Yeah, seeing Khamzat train and stuff, it just showed me what more I need to add to my game right. Some people will go there and see top level guys train like that and be like oh, s**t. Maybe I'm not in the right career or anything like that. But it just made me understand more that I am and there's more I need to do inside and outside of the cage."

"Always like on a weekly basis, monthly basis, daily basis, whatever it might be. Seeing how those guys work out there, it was just a game-changer for me. I just brought it back home. I brought it back with the team and continued to grind even harder. It woke me up a little bit in some senses and it also solidified that I'm doing the right things in some senses."

Check out Blake Oswald discussing his experiences training with Khamzat Chimaev [at the 9:34 mark] below

---

Khamzat Chimaev responds to happenings from UFC Saudi Arabia

Khamzat Chimaev is an undefeated professional mixed martial artist, but Shara Magomedov can no longer say that after this weekend. Shara 'Bullet' took his first loss in MMA on point to Michael 'Venom' Page in the Feb. 1 UFC Fight Night co-main event.

Chimaev offered his thoughts on the win and included a reference that Page used in his post-fight interview, where he said 'I'm the captain now' from the 2013 move Captain Phillips. The 30-year-old posted to his personal X account:

"Congrats captain [MVP]"

Chimaev also had thoughts on the UFC Saudi Arabia main event that saw Nassourdine Imavov finish former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya with strikes.

Utilizing his personal X page once again, Chimaev posted another congratulatory message to Imavov after his impactful statement win.