Khamzat Chimaev and Luke Rockhold are both elite MMA veterans who are known for their incredible grappling, and the two men have now actually shared the mats together too. They have competed in different generations but both at the very highest level of the sport, with Rockhold being a former UFC and StrikeForce world champion and Chimaev being a current top contender. They represent slightly different approaches to grappling as well. Rockhold is a wrestler who fell in love with Jiu-Jitsu and ended up becoming a creative submission hunter, while Chimaev is a lifelong wrestler who has focused on winning fights through dominant positional control.
The match between Khamzat Chimaev and Luke Rockhold was interesting right from the start, as Chimaev opted to sit to guard despite being known for his phenomenal wrestling. Rockhold is happy to engage with his butterfly guard, but that gave Chimaev the opportunity to take him by surprise with an inversion into the legs. He attacked a kneebar briefly but Rockhold spun out and escaped, resuming his passing game. Chimaev wrestled up briefly before sitting back down, using his butterfly guard to attack the legs once again. He got into the saddle but Rockhold defended well, so Chimaev came up on top to complete the sweep instead.
Rockhold turtled and Chimaev attacked the front headlock initially, before switching round and setting up his back-take. He flattened Rockhold and settled into side control for a while, but Rockhold was able to get to his knees. Chimaev used the threat of a D’arce choke to get access to his back, maintaining a tight rear-bodylock as he stood up. Chimaev dragged Rockhold back to the ground and tried to take his back, before transitioning to knee on belly instead. That gave Chimaev the ability to attack the armbar and although it looked close, Rockhold was able to escape and the pair called it a day.
Not only was the short match fun to watch, but it was also a great insight into some of the skills that both men possess on the ground. Luke Rockhold is clearly incredibly hard to submit even from the most dangerous positions, and Khamzat Chimaev is surprisingly good at playing off his back. It’s not something he’s ever had to use during his MMA career so far, but he’s clearly got the threat of submissions off his back if he ever needs it. Any future opponents might be wise to pay attention to this so that they can prepare for something that, until now, would have been very unexpected.
The full video of Khamzat Chimaev and Luke Rockhold in a friendly grappling match was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of Hardcore Fighting Reality Show:
