Dana White, Khamzat Chimaev

Khamzat “Borz” Chimaev (Хамзат Чимаев), 26, of Stockholm, Sweden was one of the winners at “UFC Fight Night 178,” also known as “UFC on ESPN+ 36″ or “UFC Vegas 11.” The undefeated Chechen-Swedish mixed martial artist earned his third victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Featuring 14 MMA matches, “UFC Vegas 11” took place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on September 19, 2020. In the 12th bout of the evening, Chimaev fought Gerald “GM3” Meerschaert, 32, of Racine, Wisconsin, USA in the middleweight division.

Mark Smith served as the referee. He put a stop to the middleweight contest after just 17 seconds in the first round when Chimaev knocked out Meerschaert via punch.

It was the third fastest knockout in the history of the middleweight division of the UFC. The fastest was 10 seconds by Mark “The Wizard” Weir, 53, of Gloucester, England at “UFC 38” on July 13, 2003 followed by 14 seconds by Terry “Dangerous” Martin, 39, of Chicago, Illinois, USA at “UFC 67” on May 26, 2007.

Chimaev one one of the four recipients of the Performance of the Night bonuses at “UFC Vegas 11.” The Stockholm resident now holds the record of the fastest first three consecutive wins in the UFC as it took him only 66 days to earn the wins.

Winning at “UFC Vegas 11” improved the professional MMA record of Chimaev to 9 wins and 0 loss. It was his third win in 2020 and third win in the UFC.

On the other hand, Meerschaert now has 31 wins and 14 losses. He is now riding a two-bout losing streak.

Chimaev was born in Chechnya, Russia on May 1, 1994. In 2011, he moved from Chechnya to Sweden as an asylum seeker and first lived in Malmö and moved to Lidkopings before settling in Kalmar.

Before joining the UFC, Chimaev competed in International Ring Fight Arena, Fight Club Rush and BRAVE Combat Federation. Training at the AllStars Training Center in Stockholm, he is one of the proteges of Iranian-Swedish retired professional MMA fighter Reza Madadi.

On July 16, 2020, Chimaev made his UFC debut at “UFC on ESPN 13” on the UFC Fight Island on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He submitted John “The Welsh Wrecking Machine” Phillips, 35, of Swansea, Wales via D’Arce choke in the middleweight division.

On July 26, 2020, the Chechen-Swedish MMA fighter was one of the six Performance of the Night winners at “UFC on ESPN 14” on the UFC Fight Island. He knocked out Rhys “Skeletor” McKee, 25, of Ballymena, Northern Ireland via punches in the welterweight division.