Khamzat Chimaev seems to announce he is leaving the sport for good due to his health problems. Chimaev was one of the biggest breakout star for year 2020, he was known for his quick turn around a week after his last fight.
He was originally scheduled to fight Leon Edwards but was cancelled initially due to Edwards testing positive for COVID. When the UFC rebooked the fight to later date, it was Chimaev’s side that cancelled the fight, since his body needed to recover from COVID also. Even though Edwards still wanted to fight in the card, the UFC planned to rebook it for the third time.
Unfortunately, Chimaev still could not make it as his body worsens. He was sent to a hospital, even his manager thought it was life threatening. Meanwhile, Edwards is now scheduled to fight Belal Muhammad instead.
Few days later, Chimaev posted on his Instagram account that he is done with the sport. Fans did not expect this type of news as he even tried to call out Neil Magny after his recovery. His body may have worsened even more that he decided to hang up the gloves. The post is translated to English.
Fortunately, UFC President Dana White has cleared the situation by saying that the Chechen fighter just became emotional. White said that Chimaev would not rest even though his body needed rest due to his medications.
White told MMA Junkie (credits)
“So he’s on prednisone, and he’s supposed to be taking this thing and chilling, relaxing, and letting himself recover. He went in and f*cking trained today, felt like sh*t, and got super emotional and posted that.
“He’s not supposed to be training, but you know, this guy’s a savage. He wants to fight like every f*cking weekend, and now he can’t even train, so he just got emotional and posted that, but he ain’t quitting.”
Hopefully Chimaev is not done with the sport as he still has a lot to do in the sport. Obviously, his health must be number one priority, focus on recovery first and then come back even stronger. White even said that Chimaev is one of the most special fighters he has seen in a long time.
