How two years in a windowless room in a gym shaped Khamzat Chimaev’s dominance in the UFC

IT’S A SATURDAY morning in one of the final weeks of winter, and I’m standing in Allstars Training Center for precisely one reason. I have traveled all this way because I need to see it for myself.

I’ve heard the stories. It feels like everyone has, at this point. Tales of a welterweight who spars heavyweights. A dominant wrestler who has developed a knack for knocking people out with his hands. A workhorse who never gets tired. Just an absolute machine in the gym.

“It’s almost become a little bit of a myth,” says Allstars CEO Majdi Shammas. “The first thing any reporter asks people who have trained here is, ‘Is he really that good?’ Fighters will come here from around the world, and they’ll immediately get a call from their friends. ‘Is Khamzat really that good?’ This is what’s been happening.”

Over the last two years, Khamzat Chimaev has been surrounded by hype nearly unprecedented in the UFC. He has finished all four of his opponents, three of them inside the first round. He set a modern UFC record in 2020 by winning two fights in just ten days. So far, he’s out-landed his UFC opponents in total strikes by 254-2.

But beyond what he’s done inside the Octagon, it’s these stories coming out of this Swedish basement.

You want to really see Chimaev? You want to truly understand why his team believes he could be a UFC champion in three weight classes? You have to come to Stockholm.

This Saturday morning, the gym is alive with activity. A soundtrack of culturally diverse music pumps through its sound system. Endless conversations — in English, Swedish and Arabic — occur all over its mats. In one corner, a group of small children are joyfully learning jiu-jitsu. In another corner, professional fighters are torturing themselves on treadmills and stationary bikes.

Even in the middle of all this chaos, Chimaev is impossible to miss. The 27-year-old prospect, who is on the verge of superstardom, is weeks away from a fight against Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 in…