"I told him I can help him with the wrestling" - Khamzat Chimaev says Darren Till is 'welcome' to come and train with him in Stockholm
Khamzat Chimaev has asserted that UFC middleweight star Darren Till is “welcome” to come and train with him in Stockholm, Sweden.
In an interview with BT Sport, the reputable freestyle wrestling champion opened up on multiple topics. One of the topics Khamzat Chimaev addressed was his social media exchanges with Darren Till. When questioned about his friendly banter with Till, Chimaev stated:
“I like this guy actually. He’s funny, funny guy. And I feel sorry for him that (his) last fight; he lose many fights last time. I think he’s good but have to train harder.”
"Besides, upon being asked whether he has any advice for Till, Chimaev said, “No, if he wanna come to Stockholm, he welcome. I told him I can help him with the wrestling or something. We can spar. We can train. Yeah.”
Chimaev and ‘The Gorilla’ have competed in both the welterweight and middleweight divisions over the course of their respective MMA careers. Considering that, they’d previously alluded to possibly fighting one another inside the octagon regardless of which weight class.
Nevertheless, Khamzat Chimaev has lately been focused on making a run at the UFC welterweight title before he moves up to middleweight. On the other hand, Darren Till is 1-2 in the UFC middleweight division. The UK MMA stalwart is currently on a two-fight losing streak.
As for Khamzat Chimaev, he secured a trio of impressive stoppage wins in the UFC last year. Right from his UFC debut to his third fight in the promotion, ‘The Chechen Wolf’ had been absolutely dominant.
However, Khamzat Chimaev subsequently endured a lengthy battle with COVID-19 since late 2020, resulting in a proposed welterweight matchup against Leon Edwards falling apart on three separate occasions. Thankfully, Khamzat has recovered from his COVID-19 affliction earlier this year and is set to return to the octagon this month.
You can watch Khamzat Chimaev speak about Darren Till in the video below:
Khamzat Chimaev aims to continue his dominant run, while Darren Till looks to return to the win column
Khamzat Chimaev is scheduled to fight Li Jingliang in a welterweight bout at UFC 267 on October 30th. The Chechnya-born Swedish MMA star is 3-0 in the UFC, and a win over a UFC welterweight mainstay like Jingliang would surely help Chimaev enter the top-15 of the 170-pound division.
Meanwhile, Darren Till’s most recent fight was a third-round submission loss against Derek Brunson in September. Till was purportedly injured heading into that fight.
Regardless, the striking savant has consistently indicated that he’s willing to learn from his losses, improve, and return to his winning ways. Till’s next opponent and comeback date are yet to be revealed.