MMA legend offers theory for Khamzat Chimaev's rapid exhaustion at UFC 328: 'He trains too much'

Khamzat Chimaev lost his middleweight title at UFC 328. Photo: Reproduction/X

Defeated for the first time against Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 328 , Khamzat Chimaev drew negative attention during the second round of the fight, clearly slowing down halfway through the second round. In this context, Demetrious Johnson came forward in a video published on YouTube last Sunday (10) to comment on his opinions regarding Lobo's physical preparation.

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According to Johnson, the Chechen's Achilles' heel may not stem from a lack of intense training, but rather from overtraining. The former fighter's theory suggests these habits have been hindering Chimaev's performance.

“I think he trains too intensely. There comes a point where, once you're already in shape, you can't push your cardiovascular conditioning much further. If I spend all day sparring and doing drills, and then I go and destroy my body with extra workouts on top of that, I'm just wearing myself out. I think that was the old-school mentality, but now, in 2026, there's too much science available. We've learned that less is more, and more is less. I love seeing people working hard, but sometimes training too intensely doesn't pay off. Sometimes it's better to take a few days off, relax instead of being in the gym twice a day, every day,” he stated.

Demetrious Johnson : “Bence Khamzat sürantrenman belirtileri gösteriyor. Çok çalışıyor. Zaten formda bir noktaya geldiğinde, kardiyonu gerçekten daha fazla zorlayamazsın.

Eğer bütün gün sparring ve drill yapıp üstüne ekstra antrenmanlarla vücudumu mahvedersem, sadece kendimi… pic.twitter.com/GX7JofAEQR

— Kimura (@kimurasport) May 11, 2026

Khamzat Chimaev has shown conditioning problems in the past.

Khamzat Shimaev In action at the UFC.
Photo: Reproduction/Twitter @KChimaev

Despite being one of the most dominant athletes today and having been defeated for the first time last Saturday (9), Chimaev experienced moments of vulnerability before the setback against Strickland. The apparent difficulty in maintaining intensity as the rounds progressed led to setbacks in his fights against Gilbert Durinho and Kamaru Usman , which he won by decision.

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