A video has surfaced showing Khamzat Chimaev's first amateur fight, which took place in September 2017 in Sweden. Chimaev finished the bout with a rear-naked choke in the second round. He won three amateur fights total before transitioning to professional MMA in 2018. The fight took place under the Fight Club Rush organization, which continues to hold events today and is broadcast on UFC Fight Pass. Chimaev's opponent in that amateur bout was Khaled Laalaam, who currently holds a 7-1 professional record and competes in UAE Warriors.
A recently surfaced video offers a rare look at Khamzat Chimaev's very beginnings in combat sports, capturing his first amateur MMA bout, which took place in September 2017 in Sweden under the Fight Club Rush banner.
In the footage, a then-unknown Chimaev submitted his opponent, Khaled Laalaam, with a rear-naked choke in the second round. It was the first of three amateur victories Chimaev would collect before making his professional debut in 2018. Fight Club Rush, the Swedish organization that hosted the bout, remains active today and airs its events on UFC Fight Pass.
Laalaam, Chimaev's opponent that night, went on to build a professional career of his own. He currently holds a 7-1 record and competes for UAE Warriors, making the clip an interesting footnote for two fighters who each found their footing in the sport.
Chimaev, of course, has traveled considerably further. Now 32 years old and representing the United Arab Emirates, "Borz" holds a 15-1 professional record and sits as the number-one ranked middleweight in the world, with a top-ten pound-for-pound position to his name. Competing out of Allstars Training Center, the six-foot-two, 188-centimeter fighter with a 75-inch reach has become one of the most dominant presences in the sport. His numbers bear that out: he lands 4.04 significant strikes per minute at a 60 percent accuracy rate, and his grappling is equally suffocating, averaging 5.29 takedowns per 15 minutes alongside 1.8 submission attempts in the same span.
Why it matters
- The video provides rare historical documentation of Chimaev's earliest competitive steps, before he became a top-ranked middleweight contender.
- Laalaam's continued professional activity at 7-1 adds an extra layer of interest, showing that Chimaev's first amateur opponent went on to build a legitimate career.
- Fight Club Rush's ongoing relationship with UFC Fight Pass gives the clip additional visibility and context within the broader MMA ecosystem.
