"That chilled me to my bones" - Fans in awe of Khamzat Chimaev's coach's inspirational speech right before Kamaru Usman fight

Khamzat Chimaev took part in the biggest fight of his career at UFC 294, where he faced Kamaru Usman in a middleweight bout with future title implications. While Usman stepped in on very short notice, he is still a former UFC welterweight champion and among the greatest of all time.

To beat him, the unbeaten Chechen phenom had to be on point in every regard. Fortunately, Khamzat Chimaev's coach made sure of that by motivating his pupil with a pre-fight speech that ensured 'Borz' would not lose his undefeated record against the toughest foe of his career to date.

An Instagram clip of the speech has made the rounds on social media, and fans have reacted to it with shock and awe. Whether the pep talk was instrumental to Chimaev beating Usman remains to be seen, but there is no doubting the effect that a motivational talk can have on a fighter.

Leon Edwards famously head kicked Kamaru Usman into unconsciousness after a motivational talk from one of his coaches. In Khamzat Chimaev's case, his coach's speech implored him to strive for greatness on the level of combat sports legends like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.

One fan praised the speech and pointed out that Chimaev once uttered the speech to himself ahead of his cancelled bout with Nate Diaz, which then became a fight with Kevin Holland:

"Cool clip, Khamzat actually said this quote about himself first, before the Diaz/Holland fight!"

Another fan praised Chimaev's coach as a great teacher:

"That chilled me to my bones! Great words from a great master!"

This was echoed by another fan:

"Goosebumps"

Many commended the speech itself as well:

"What a speech"

A collage of reactions can be seen below:

Fan reactions

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Khamzat Chimaev isn't facing Sean Strickland next

While Khamzat Chimaev's bout with Kamaru Usman was billed as a number one contender fight by UFC CEO Dana White, it has not come to pass.

After reigning UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland criticized the Chechen's performance and questioned whether it was worth a title shot, 'Borz' was quick to respond.

However, the fight isn't happening after all.

Instead, Dana White has announced Dricus du Plessis as Sean Strickland's next opponent, with the two scheduled to face each other at UFC 297 in January.