Anthony Smith recently recalled that he had heard about the legendary Khamzat Chimaev before he entered the UFC. The Swedish fighter was training with some of the biggest fighters in Sweden.

Anthony Smith was recently on Michael Bisping's Believe You Me podcast. He talked about how he'd heard about Khamzat Chimaev before he was even in the UFC.

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“Other people said it first, so now I can say it out loud. I've heard the stories of Chimaev for years, like a couple years before he was even in the UFC. I remember hearing his name, some young kid that's ragdolling Ilir Latifi and Gustafsson down in Sweden. Even when he finally made it to the UFC, beat a couple of guys and looked really good, I kept that to myself until other people had told the story like, ‘Hey man, I've been hearing the stories about this kid beating the shit out of those guys for a long time,'” said Anthony Smith.

Khamzat Chimaev does have a reputation for being tough on his training partners. There was a story a few years ago about how he knocked, former UFC middleweight, Darren Stewart's teeth out during training.

There is no doubt that stories like this will only increase the legendary reputation of Khamzat Chimaev. There are big expectations on his shoulders and many expect him to fight for a UFC title very soon. The Swedish fighter is set for a big year in 2022 if he's able to fight enough this year.