Video | Khamzat Chimaev defeats Luke Rockhold in friendly BJJ match

Khamzat Chimaev appears to be in fine form ahead of his UFC 308 matchup with former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.

Chimaev (13-0 MMA) is set to face Whittaker (26-7 MMA) in a high-stakes middleweight bout on October 26 at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.

The contest will mark Khamzat Chimaev’s first Octagon appearance since scoring a majority decision win over Kamaru Usman in October of 2023.

In preparation for his battle with ‘The Reaper’, Chimaev has been training alongside former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. That pairing resulted in a friendly BJJ match, which saw ‘Borz’ handle ‘Rocky’ with relative ease on the mats.

Check out the footage below courtesy of @ChampRDS on ‘X‘:

Khamzat Chimaev came out on top in a grappling match against Luke Rockhold 🔥

🎥 YT / Hardcore Fighting Reality Show #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/y3vqPhdg39

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 6, 2024

With a victory over Robert Whittaker this October, Khamzat Chimaev would likely earn a title shot against the winner of the planned middleweight title fight rematch between Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland.

However, defeating ‘Bobby Knuckles’ will be easier said than done. The former middleweight kingpin currently boasts a two-fight winning streak, with his most recent victory coming by way of first-round knockout over Ikram Aliskerov this past June in Saudi Arabia (see that here).

Still, Khamzat Chimaev has yet to taste defeat in his MMA career and will likely be carrying a ton of confidence when he steps into the Octagon at UFC 308. ‘Borz’ has gone 7-0 since joining the UFC ranks in July of 2020, earning 5 stoppage wins in that time.

The Chechen standout will likely look to impose his grappling skillset when he takes on the Aussie this October. ‘The Wolf’ previously utilized his strong wrestling prowess to score a quick submission victory over Kevin Holland at UFC 279.

Do you think Khamzat Chimaev will be able to implement his grappling against Robert Whittaker at October’s UFC 308 event?