At UFC 308 this weekend in Abu Dhabi, one of the most intriguing contenders in the world returns to the Octagon for his biggest fight to date.
Khamzat Chimaev has fought seven times in the Octagon now and yet, in some ways, it still feels like we have so much to learn about him and his potential.
Some of those boxes will be ticked on October 26 when he faces former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker over five rounds.
The pair were set to meet in June but health complications forced him to withdraw from the fight following a period where he has struggled to remain active.
During his media day interviews on fight week, Chimaev spoke about what it has been like to face adversity outside of the cage:
"It's hard always when you want to do your job when you can't do it and you don't get the money, it's hard. But thanks God, I'm here, I'm ready, I'm going to go for my victory and take my money, go home, be happy. We're here."
Despite his lack of consistent activity, Chimaev's undefeated record and undeniable star quality means that there are always high stakes when he's involved.
A win over a highly regarded opponent like Whittaker could be enough to set him up for a title shot next time out, even if Dricus Du Plessis appears to be set up for a rematch with Sean Strickland.
"I hope so but they said that before when I beat Gilbert Burns," Chimaev reflected. "How long time was that? Was some two, three years ago man. I didn't get my chance. After that, Usman. 'If he beats Usman gonna fight for the title'. I didn't fight yet so we'll see but I'm happy with the money. I'm making more money than the champ as well man."
In the highly experienced Whittaker, Chimaev faces an opponent that has faced and beaten many of the top middleweight contenders during his time in the UFC.
He's only ever lost to Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis during his time at 185-pounds meaning that beating him would be a massive statement for "Borz".
"I don't know, we will see. He knows how to lose, we don't know so I'm ready for Whittaker."
The biggest question hanging over this fight that we're going to find out very quickly is how Whittaker deals with the aggression and wrestling of Chimaev that usually sees him overwhelm opponents early on.
"The Reaper" may have a good track record against grappling specialists but this isn't something that is going to give his opponent much cause for concern.
"They are not MMA wrestlers, MMA is different, you know. So you can be Olympic champion but if you get Olympic champion and me and MMA wrestling, I could beat him easy so this is different. I'm not just wrestler. People thinking about like I'm not just freestyle wrestler, you know. MMA wrestler is different."
In Chimaev's last fight, former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman was able to weather this early storm and make the fight competitive past the first round.
This will surely be Whittaker's approach but the middleweight enigma doesn't think that his clash with Usman points to his next opponent having the same success.
"Who did stop my takedowns? Nobody. So I don't think this guy will be different. If Kamaru Usman has been a great champ and he took down everyone but I took him down, I dominate him in the rounds, easy. What going to be different with taekwondo or karate guy against like Usman. Guy who's been a wrestler and he was professional wrestler before."
Watch the full interview from media day below via MMA Fighting:
