After waging wars inside the Octagon for years, Khamzat Chimaev finally became a UFC champion after dethroning Dricus du Plessis last year. But now, at the height of his popularity, there’s a chance the reigning 185 lbs champion could put his MMA career on hold to pursue a childhood dream.

Ahead of his very first title defense against Sean Strickland at UFC 328 this Saturday, his head coach, Alan Nascimento, has revealed that the 32-year-old hopes to wrestle for the UAE’s Olympic team soon.

“Maybe with these wrestling camps, he can make the national team and even try for the Olympics like several other guys from Chechnya, who naturalized elsewhere and became Olympic champions in Paris, for example,” Nascimento told MMA Fighting. “These are possibilities, and if you’re going to dream, it costs nothing.

“He has my full support. It’s been part of his dream since he was a kid. He started in wrestling, then moved into MMA and everything, but I see it as a long-standing passion, a childhood dream.”

For those who don’t know, Khamzat Chimaev began wrestling at age five. Even after emigrating to Sweden from Chechnya in 2013, ‘Borz’ continued to wrestle—competing and winning gold at the Swedish national freestyle wrestling championships in 2016, 2017, and 2018. He has also trained under the tutelage of wrestling greats like Buvaisar Saitiev. So, it’s only natural for him to want to see that dream to its completion despite today being a naturalized citizen of the United Arab Emirates.

“If he gets the opportunity and is truly willing to pay the price for it, go for it. Have faith, work hard, and go,” the veteran coach continued. “He’s already a champion in the biggest fighting organization in the world. I can’t think of another sport that demands as much from athletes.

“If you can reach that level in this sport, I believe that in anything else, if you really want it and it’s your dream, no sacrifice will feel too big.”

However, qualifying for the Olympics would still require Chimaev to compete and win major tournaments while representing the UAE, and doing that while staying active in the UFC could become difficult because the training and conditioning required for both sports are different. And if he tries to chase both at once, there’s always a chance one could slip away. Yet, his coach believes it’s more achievable than people think.

“I don’t think it’s impossible,” Nascimento added. “Will he become a champion? I don’t know. But for him to make the UAE national team and compete in the Olympics, that’s something that’s definitely more achievable than many other things. We have the connections to make it happen. We know that.”

So far, fighters like Henry Cejudo, Kayla Harrison, and Daniel Cormier have competed in the Olympics before becoming UFC champions. However, none have attempted to do that in the middle of fledgling UFC careers. If he does go down that path, the Chechen-Emirati star could become one of the first fighters to do that.

Now, as the middleweight champion’s coach seems fully on board with the idea, Khamzat Chimaev has finally shared his side on whether he truly wants to compete in the next Olympics.

Khamzat Chimaev clears the air on wrestling in the Olympics ahead of UFC 328

‘Borz’ competing at the 2028 Olympics would be nothing short of an incredible feat that many fans probably never imagined. However, the reigning UFC middleweight champion isn’t rushing toward that goal just yet. Talking about the Olympics during the UFC 328 media day, Chimaev clarified that he’s currently focused on his upcoming fight against Sean Strickland, and plans to continue competing in Abu Dhabi before seriously considering a move to Olympic wrestling.

“Yeah of course,” ‘Borz’ said. “We got to see. First, right now I’m focused on this fight and hopefully get back to Abu Dhabi and fight there. After that, we’ll think about it.”

Recently, the 32-year-old also signed with Real American Freestyle wrestling (RAF) and is expected to compete against Kyle Snyder in an event, likely next month. Still, competing at the Olympics would be a different challenge altogether. Realizing the level of competition involved, Chimaev admitted that winning Olympic gold would be an extremely difficult prospect.

“I’m trying to get fun, have fun with my life, you know, just compete with someone,” he added. “It will be hard to get the gold. You gotta work for that. And there’s a lot of good guys over there in my weight too.”

Khamzat Chimaev setting his sights on the Olympics would invite a long and arduous transition, especially now that he’s already established himself as one of the biggest stars in the sport. But his coach’s support and his own wrestling pedigree suggest it is more than idle talk.