Glover Teixeira says UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev goes too hard in sparring.
Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) claimed the middleweight title with a dominant and smothering display over Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319 in August. After the win, he called out Teixeira’s protege, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who dismissed the challenge. Pereira is more interested in moving up to heavyweight to fight Jon Jones.
Teixeira spoke about Chimaev’s sparring tendencies, which he’s not a fan of.
“He’s great, he’s great, the way he talks, and he backs it up,” Teixeira said of Chimaev in an interview with the UFC. “He comes back and shows he’s an amazing fighter. One thing that I probably don’t like about Chimaev is that sometimes he spars with guys, and he beats the sh*t out of people who are not even on his level sparring. But he’s an amazing fighter, and he’s good on the microphone, too.”
It’s not the first time Chimaev is accused of sparring too hard. In 2022, former middleweight champion Strickland urged Chimaev to take it easy on his training partners when he spent time at Xtreme Couture, telling him ‘you’re better than everybody, don’t hurt people.'”
