Ahead of Khamzat Chimaev‘s upcoming fight with Dricus du Plessis this weekend, Venum has given the number one contender his own custom fight shorts.
MMAJunkie broke the news on Tuesday morning, sharing photos of the custom shorts, which draw inspiration from Chimaev’s nickname, Borz, meaning “wolf” in Chechen.
You can see photos of the custom fight kit below:
Since partnering with the UFC in the wake of the promotion’s uniform deal with Reebok, Venum has continued to churn out more and more unique fight kits. While previously, custom shorts were reserved for champions, Venum has started to create unique fight kits for contenders and fan-favorites more and more with each passing year.
From the sounds of things, not only are fight fans happy about Venum giving more fighters their own unique shorts, they’re also pretty pumped about Chimaev’s short in particular.
As one fan wrote: “Those are the best ones so far.”
Another added: “That’s actually so fire.”
Of course, when the two collide in the main event of UFC 319 this weekend, DDP will also likely be wearing his custom fight shorts, which he wore in his UFC 305 title defense against Israel Adesanya, and his UFC 312 title defense against Sean Strickland.
Khamzat Chimaev Explains the Origins of His Nickname
Several months ago, Khamzat Chimaev explained the origins of his nickname, revealing that his brother, whom he’s building a house for right by both he and his mom’s, gave him the nickname.
During an appearance on the Eye AM Podcast, Chimaev dished on the origins of his nickname, saying:
“My brother give me that name. It’s not from me. But wolf is traditional thing for my country, it is traditional symbol. All Chechen young guys, they call them Borz, like … tough man. Many guys being in the fighting from Chechnya they call them Borz.
“I like the animal how he’s doing his life as well.”
If Chimaev winds up getting his hand raised on Saturday, he will go down in history as the first Chechen fighter in history to hold undisputed gold.
Chimaev Puts in Work With Strength & Conditioning Coach
While Khamzat Chimaev went three rounds with Gilbert Burns back in 2022, and three rounds with Kamaru Usman in 2023, the undefeated contender is known for being a fast starter.
Ahead of his UFC 319 fight with Dricus du Plessis, Chimaev and Aaron Pico, who will also be fighting on Saturday night, have been working with Sam Calavitta, the founder of the Treigning Lab in California.
In the first episode of the UFC 319 Embedded: Vlog Series, the two can be seen training side-by-side, Chimaev for his middleweight title fight, and Pico for his highly-anticipated UFC debut.
As Calavitta, who is a 17-time Ironman, explained, his strength and conditioning work with Chimaev and Pico specifically centers around high-intensity training that engages the nervous system.
Given that Chimaev has never made it into the championship rounds throughout his MMA career, it’ll be interesting to see how things play out on Saturday night if DDP is able to survive the early onslaught of Borz.
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