Video | Khamzat Chimaev looks sharp on the pads during training session with Alexander Gustafsson

UFC welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev looked sharp on the pads during a recent training session with Alexander Gustafsson in Sweden.

Chimaev finally returns to the Octagon on March 13 when he takes on Leon Edwards. The fight between these two rivals has been booked twice previously but each time it fell apart after both men tested positive for COVID-19. Chimaev was said to have had a rough battle with the coronavirus and was slow to make his recovery, pushing this bout back from its intended January 20 date to March 13. He appears to finally be healthy and he’s back in the gym at Allstars Training Center in Stockholm.

Taking to his social media this week, Chimaev shared footage of him hitting the pads with his head coach Andreas Michael. The undefeated star looked sharp with his hands as he hit the pads with his teammate Gustafsson walking around. Chimaev looks to be in great shape and he still has over six weeks left to train for Edwards.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKdVxpAHHbk/

Chimaev is one of UFC president Dana White’s ‘three fighters to watch for in 2021’ along with middleweights Kevin Holland and Joaquin Buckley. We saw Buckley lose to Alessio Di Chirico earlier this month in an upset, while Holland takes on veteran Derek Brunson in an upcoming fight. Both Holland and Buckley are solid fighters, but the difference is Chimaev still has that allure of an undefeated record. It’s very possible that Chimaev is one of the best welterweights in the world, and he will get the opportunity to prove it to everyone when he takes on Edwards in March.

In the meantime, let’s hope both Edwards and Chimaev stay healthy and make it to the fight this time. The UFC badly wants this fight to happen, as the winner of the bout will most likely next to fight UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, or Gilbert Burns should he pull off the upset at UFC 260. As for Gustafsson, he does not currently have his next fight booked following a loss to Fabricio Werdum last year.

How excited are you to see Khamzat Chimaev fight against Leon Edwards?