Khamzat Chimaev Has Scar on His Lip Due to Gruesome Childhood Injury

Throughout the history of the UFC, there have been many fighters who have possessed extremely unique appearance traits that just made them look cool, and instead of being just a regular fighter, have made them feel like larger-than-life characters. Just to name a few fighters who are prime examples of this are Shara Magomedov with his terrifying-looking eye, Conor McGregor’s iconic tattoos, and Brock Lesnar’s monstrous physique.

Another example of a fighter feeling like a larger-than-life character is Khamzat Chimaev. Ever since he burst onto the scene in the UFC back in 2020, ‘Borz’ has not only done the business inside the Octagon, but he has possessed incredible charisma. Something which has added to that is the fact that not only is he terrifying, he also possesses a unique look, as he has a badly scarred lip.

For many years it has been rumoured that Chimaev’s lip had been that way from birth due to a cleft lip. However, this is not the case. During an interview in 2020, which has now been deleted, the fighter exclusively revealed for the very first time how he injured his lip, and the story is very gruesome.

Khamzat Chimaev’s Lip Scar Explained

Although there have been rumours for years that Chimaev’s lip scar was a result of a cleft lip, those rumours have been rubbished. During a now-deleted interview, which Chimaev gave around the time he burst onto the scene in the UFC in 2020, the Chechen publicly spoke about his scar for the very first time and told the story of exactly what happened to him to end up with such a brutal-looking scar.

SportBible obtained quotes from the now-deleted interview, and Chimaev explained the details behind the injury and even revealed it still affects his breathing to this day.

Although the brutal injuries which Chimaev sustained seemingly haven’t had an impact on his performances inside the UFC Octagon, suffering a broken nose before your fighting career has begun and not being able to breathe from one of your nostrils is far from ideal.

As well as having to deal with the physical aspects of his injuries, with it being such an obvious scar which has generated a lot of talk throughout the MMA world, there is a chance that the scar has affected Chimaev mentally, as he will no doubt get comments on social media about it. Speaking of comments which have been made about his scar, after defeating Li Jingliang in 2021, Chimaev was attacked on social media by Conor McGregor, who referenced his scar, calling him “rat lip.”