Khamzat Chimaev has built a career on mauling opponents with his wrestling, but there’s one arena where he admits his dominance would vanish. It’s a world with different rules, and according to ‘Borz,’ that makes all the difference. The reigning UFC middleweight champion believes he can take down almost anyone inside the Octagon. But when it comes to doing the same against an Olympic wrestler in a wrestling match, then he believes things can change.

“A lot of people like to say, ‘Oh, these wrestlers,’” Chimaev said in a recent clip. “It’s two different sports completely. An Olympic champ can beat me in a match. Olympic champ in the cage, I can beat any Olympic champ. Two different sports. I respect Kyle (Snyder), Sadulaev (Abdulrashid), all these guys, great champs for wrestling, but not MMA.” 

Well, the Chechen rightly pointed out that there’s a wide gap when it comes to pure wrestlers achieving success in MMA. Yet, there are examples such as Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo, who represented America in the Olympics and also became two-division champions in the UFC. So, that does counter Khamzat Chimaev’s position here. But the middleweight kingpin revealed a key skill gap that separates MMA wrestlers from traditional ones. Chimev believes it’s their striking that propelled ‘DC’ and ‘Triple C’ into UFC champs.

“And then people say, Cejudo became champ,” Chimaev explained. “Cejudo became UFC champ with the striking. He almost didn’t use his wrestling. DC was still boxing in the fights. Still, it’s two different sports.”

And that’s quite true as well. Henry Cejudo joined Eric Albarracin after an illustrious freestyle wrestling career, focusing more on his striking when he entered MMA. At the same time, Daniel Cormier trained at American Kickboxing Academy under coach Javier Mendez to develop his striking. Once they started honing in that craft, both former Olympians became complete MMA fighters.

Moreover, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan also highlighted the same difference back in 2014, pointing to Cormier’s win against Patrick Cummins as proof of how his striking evolution set him apart from other wrestlers. And Chimaev isn’t the only one who thinks so.

Even his teammate and a top UFC lightweight contender also hinted at the same possibility while discussing ‘Borz’ potentially facing an Olympic champion.

Arman Tsarukyan predicts Khamzat Chimaev vs Abdulrashid Sadulaev in RAF

Abdulrashid Sadulaev, the two-time Olympic champion, trains with Khamzat Chimaev whenever there is a big fight. However, a potential matchup between them could happen in the future. The Russian freestyle wrestling great joined the promotion back in January 2026. After that, ‘Borz’ also surprised people by joining the RAF last week. But if two elite wrestlers collide, who would get the win?

Well, Khamzat Chimaev’s training partner and friend, Arman Tsarukyan, believes there would be no competition between them, as Sadulaev would completely dominate the UFC champ in freestyle wrestling. At the same time, he also acknowledged that ‘Borz’ could show similar dominance inside the cage.

“No… it’s completely different levels,” Tsarukyan said on the JAXXON Podcast. “Sadulaev is a two-time Olympic champion, bro! Sadulaev works every day on this sport. He’s the GOAT, you know. How can an MMA fighter come and wrestle with him? In freestyle wrestling? No, bro! It’s like saying Sadulaev is going to beat Khamzat in MMA.”

Now, if another elite wrestling-based MMA fighter like Arman Tsarukyan admits his friend would lose against an Olympic champion in pure wrestling, that clearly shows the gap between freestyle wrestling and MMA. It underscores a fundamental truth in combat sports: the rules of engagement define the master, and Khamzat Chimaev, for all his confidence, knows exactly where his mastery ends.