Khamzat Chimaev’s lip scar that Conor McGregor mocked came from a gruesome childhood injury

Khamzat Chimaev fell down the stairs onto concrete as a toddler, suffering a horrific facial injury

Chimaev’s lip scar does not come from an incident in the ring nor from a cleft lip, but from an accident as a child, which still affects him to this day.

In a now-deleted interview in 2020, Chimaev revealed the origin of the scar on his lip, and it was much worse than most people imagined.

SportBible reported that Chimaev explained that he fell down a staircase at two years old, slamming his face onto concrete and ripping his lip, losing teeth, and breaking his nose on the fall.

Chimaev said: “My mom told me this, but I don’t remember. I was two years old, and we had a big staircase in our house and I fell down on the concrete.

“I had a ripped lip, a couple of my teeth were knocked out, and I also broke my nose.

“I still can’t breathe from my right nostril.”

Given that he can only breathe from one nostril, it is amazing how much Chimaev has dominated in the UFC since starting his MMA journey.

Conor McGregor once inspired Khamzat Chimaev to become a UFC fighter

Despite their bad blood over McGregor’s “rat lip” comment on what was a devastating injury to Chimaev, the Irishman was actually the person who inspired “Borz” to become a fighter in the first place.

Speaking to Brett Okamoto via ESPN MMA , Chimaev explained how watching McGregor knock out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194 sparked his desire to become an MMA fighter and to make “millions” in the octagon.

Chimaev said: “Yeah, I was watching his [McGregor’s] fight. I was watching him fight Aldo. I was sitting in night and was working [the night shift]. I was taking rest for 15 minutes and watched his fight.

“I always look at that, like if those guys make so many money like millions and this stuff, why I can’t do it now?

“I’m a fighter, I’m a warrior and I have something special inside me… I had to find some way and take out this to show to the people.”

The later comments about his lip from McGregor will have been disappointing given how inspirational the Irishman was to Chimaev, but he has become one of the best fighters in the division despite those comments in the years since.