Luke Rockhold: 'Pressure' from 'Chechen ruler' affected Khamzat Chimaev's performance in UFC title win

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is growing quite familiar with his fellow 185-pound titleholder, Khamzat Chimaev, ahead of UFC 328.

Santo Studio in Newport Beach, California, has unexpectedly become the gathering spot for the unique trio of Chimaev, Rockhold and UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan. Ahead of his Saturday’s title defense against Sean Strickland in Newark, New Jersey, Chimaev put in the work with Rockhold, who is no stranger to elite-level teammates from his days at American Kickboxing Academy.

On Tuesday’s episode of “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Rockhold said he’d rank Chimaev, 32, alongside the best training partners he’s ever had, including names like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez and Islam Makhachev.

"He's special,” Rockhold told Uncrowned of Chimaev. “He hits very hard. He's so unique in his realm, so he's going to stick to what he does best, but if he can relax — and I think last time out [against Dricus du Plessis], there was a lot of pressure on him to win. This time, I think you'll see a lot more free Khamzat. And hopefully, he's get those takedowns. And if he loses a few takedowns, he can show his stand-up, because he's very dangerous on the feet. It's just a matter of putting it all together and relaxing to the process.

“I think that's the biggest key. If he loses some takedowns, he's gotta relax. If he relaxes among that process, he's going to get more takedowns and be effective on the feet. He just can't rush it."

Chimaev’s championship victory over Dricus du Plessis in August was one of the most one-sided performances ever seen from a UFC title challenger. Yet it still drew criticism throughout the community as a showing long on dominance but short on entertainment.

Rockhold chalked that up to the situation more than the matchup.

“I think the pressure was from some Chechen ruler [Ramzan Kadyrov] and then the people behind him — there’s a lot of pressure,” Rockhold said. “To go back [to Chechnya], who knows what it’d be like if he didn’t bring that title back home. So he is the champion now and I think he’s got a chance [at UFC 328] to go out there and do his thing.”

Against Strickland, Rockhold expects a different approach.

In his own experience, Rockhold was once booked to fight Strickland in 2021 until withdrawing due to a back injury. They first met in Rockhold’s former gym, RVCA, where he immediately soured on Strickland for being an overly-aggressive training partner.