"It comes natural to him" - Khamzat Chimaev's coach thinks 'Borz' prefers being the villain
Khamzat Chimaev's head coach Andreas Michael was recently asked if 'Borz' and his partner-in-crime Darren Till are comfortable playing the heel in the UFC. According to Michael, Chimaev and Till sometimes come across as villains due to their brutally honest nature.
Ariel Helwani then opined that Chimaev might prefer to play the role of a villain. 'Borz's coach agreed, claiming that it comes naturally to the Chechen-born Swede killer. Michael said on The MMA Hour:
"I think so too. I think so too because it comes natural to him. Natural thing, you know. But I'm serious, he's a good good person. He's good to his camp, he's good to his people, he's good to his coaches, he's good to like everyone around him. The villian is just something that happened because of certain situations and I'm saying like, if you talk shit about him, he's gonna check you. He's gonna come and say in your face."
Watch Michael's appearance on The MMA Hour below:
According to Michael, Chimaev usually confronts people regarding dislikeable comments they may have made about 'Borz'. The Allstar Training Center owner claims that his pupil is still learning not to react to every passing comment.
Michael Bisping believes Khamzat Chimaev is the UFC's new official heel
Khamzat Chimaev has turned heel real quick in the lead up to UFC 279. 'Borz' initially lost some of his so-called "gangster" credibility after a run-in with Paulo Costa at the UFC Performance Institute, with no apparent intention of really engaging.
Chimaev then had a backstage scuffle with Kevin Holland and later Nate Diaz that botched the UFC 279 pre-fight presser. The Chechen-born Swede played his part to perfection by flipping off an angry crowd after missing weight by 7.5 lbs at the weigh-ins. When Joe Rogan asked him about his weight miss, Chimaev shouted amidst boos from the crowd:
"Chechnya motherf******! Shut up, guys! I’ll f*** your boy up, I’ll f**k him backstage as well.”
@KChimaev turned heel real quick!👊
#ufc279 https://t.co/ALpBimKa0K
Michael Bisping, who is no stranger to playing the heel himself, believes Chimaev is now the UFC's official super-villian. The 43-year-old said on his YouTube channel:
"The UFC officially has a new super villain. I am, of course, talking about Khamzat Chimaev, ‘Borz,’ the ‘Wolf.’ Come on, when he walked out to that fight, the boos from the crowd were like nothing I’ve ever heard. I used to get booed a fair bit, as well, but that took the biscuit. That was mental.”
Watch Bisping's YouTube video below: