Video has emerged showing Khamzat Chimaev's first amateur MMA bout, which took place in September 2017 in Sweden under the Fight Club Rush promotion. Chimaev finished the fight with a submission in the second round. He went on to win three amateur fights total before transitioning to professional MMA the following year in 2018. His opponent in that debut amateur fight was Khaled Laalam, who currently holds a 7-1 professional record and competes in UAE Warriors. Fight Club Rush, the organization where Chimaev made his amateur debut, continues to operate and their events are broadcast on UFC Fight Pass.
Archival footage has surfaced showing Khamzat Chimaev competing in his very first mixed martial arts bout, an amateur contest held in September 2017 in Sweden under the Fight Club Rush promotion — an organization that continues to operate and broadcasts its events on UFC Fight Pass.
In the newly emerged video, Chimaev finishes his opponent, Khaled Laalam, by submission in the second round. It was the opening chapter of a brief but dominant amateur run that saw Chimaev go three-for-three before turning professional in 2018. Laalam, for his part, has built a respectable career of his own since that encounter, compiling a 7-1 professional record while competing for UAE Warriors.
Now 32 and representing the United Arab Emirates, Chimaev holds a 15-1-0 professional record and sits at number one in the middleweight rankings, placing him tenth on the pound-for-pound list. He trains out of the Allstars Training Center and fights out of an orthodox stance, standing six-foot-two with a 75-inch reach. The grappling foundation glimpsed in that 2017 amateur clip is well reflected in his professional numbers: he averages 5.29 takedowns per 15 minutes and lands 1.8 submission attempts per 15 minutes, all while posting a striking accuracy of 60 percent and landing 4.04 significant strikes per minute.
Why it matters
- The footage offers a rare look at Chimaev before his rise, contextualizing how quickly he developed from a regional amateur circuit into a top-ranked contender.
- Laalam's continued professional activity means both men from that 2017 bout remain active in the sport, adding a notable footnote to the clip's resurfacing.
- Fight Club Rush's presence on UFC Fight Pass gives the archival moment added visibility within the broader MMA community.
