Former UFC fighter doubts whether Khamzat Chimaev is "the same fighter” since illness

UFC middleweight boogeyman Khamzat Chimaev might be the most feared man in the division at the moment. This has become even more apparent after his clinical domination of former divisional champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 last month.
'Borz' never allowed Whittaker to mount any offense, immediately taking him down and submitting him with a face crank that damaged the Aussie fighter's jaw in just over three minutes. Almost immediately after Chimaev's win, MMA fans called for the Chechen warrior to fight for the belt.
One man who isn't entirely convinced that Chimaev is as dangerous as people make him out to be is former UFC lightweight Josh Thompson. In a podcast episode with renowned MMA referee 'Big' John McCarthy, Thompson made his case, saying:
"I've never said that he [Chimaev] wasn't good. You [McCarthy] was also talking about pre-COVID. That's where I'm hanging my hat on this whole thing. He hasn't been the same fighter since pre-COVID. Sure, he finished Robert Whittaker - I'm not gonna take anything away from that. That's spectacular. The way the he did it. Fantastic."
Thompson continued:
"If you're finishing in the first round, there's nothing I can say. You're proving that you're a stud. What happens when it gets to the third round? That's all I'm saying. What's gonna happen when someone gets you into the third round?... Look, I go back to this, he looked tired in the third round against Gilbert Burns and he made the weight for that, which might have been the weight cut."
To fully appreciate Josh Thompson's aforementioned comments, it pays to have a closer look at Khamzat Chimaev's performances before and after he contracted COVID-19 in late 2020.
'Borz' debuted in the UFC at UFC Fight Island 1, just months after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. He submitted John Phillips with a brabo choke in the second round. He then set a new record for the fastest turnaround time when he knocked out Rhys McKee just 10 days later. He followed up this win with another KO finish of Gerald Meerschaert in just 17 seconds at UFC Vegas 11, just two months later.
After the Meerschaert win, Chimaev tested positive for COVID-19, which had him sitting on the sidelines for over a year. Pre-COVID-19, Chimaev's UFC record was 3-0 with two KOs and one submission, with a total fight time of 9:38.
Chimaev returned in October 2021 and submitted Li Jiangliang in the first round, showing no signs of slowing down. His next fight, a Fight of the Night -winning bout with Gilbert Burns, saw 'Borz' get tested for the first time but came out victorious with a unanimous decision. He followed it up with a first-round submission of Kevin Holland and then a close majority decision win over Kamaru Usman, who was moving up to middleweight from welterweight.
There is some merit to what Thompson said, as in the two bouts where Chimaev reached a third round, he barely got the win. He was nearly finished by Burns and faced trouble against the smaller Usman.
However, you can also credit the increase in the quality of his opponents as 'Borz' kept moving up his division.