VIDEO | UFC champ Khamzat Chimaev spars with top contender Brendan Allen

It’s possible that Khamzat Chimaev and Brendan Allen will collide in the UFC Octagon in the next couple of years. That didn’t stop the pair from linking up for a sparring session.

Chimaev, the reigning UFC middleweight champion, crossed paths with Allen, his division’s No. 4-ranked contender, at Santo Studio in California.

You can see a clip of them working together below, via Adam Zubayraev.

Top UFC middleweights link up to spar

Khamzat Chimaev sparring with Brendan Allen 👀

(via @AdamZubayraev) pic.twitter.com/fJ7IIxkAKV

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 22, 2026

Khamzat Chimaev and Brendan Allen both have fights booked.

Chimaev is gearing up for a title defense opposite former champion Sean Strickland. The fight headlines UFC 328 on May 9. It will be his first fight since winning the belt with a lopsided decision defeat of Dricus Du Plessis last year. Other highlights of his undefeated record include wins over Robert Whittaker, Kamaru Usman, Kevin Holland, and Gilbert Burns. Despite competing at welterweight in the early phases of his UFC career, and later moving up to middleweight, he has recently been teasing an eventual move up to light heavyweight.

Allen, on the other hand, is set to fight Edmen Shahbazyan on June 6. It’s definitely a bit of a strange matchup for him. Shahbazyan is on a nice win streak, but he is unranked. Allen, meanwhile, is in the division’s top-5, thanks to recent wins over Reinier de Ridder and Marvin Vettori. It’s unlikely he will gain much ground even if he beats Shahbazyan impressively. That said, he is getting very close to a title shot, whether Chimaev remains champion or not.

What do you think of Chimaev and Allen’s decision to train together?