Khamzat Chimaev appeared to announce his retirement from MMA three weeks after the persistent symptoms of COVID-19 forced him to withdraw from UFC Vegas 21. But UFC President Dana White said the rising UFC middleweight star is on the rise. actually getting ready for a return in June.
Chimaev wrote on Instagram (translated from Russian): “Thank you all so much for supporting me on my journey in this sport. I think I’m done. ”He added that, although he did not win a title,“ it is not the most important victory of this life ”.
“You may be upset, but my heart and body tell me everything,” he wrote.
Later, Chimaev posted a photo in his Instagram story that showed what looked like blood in a sink.
“The main thing is that I don’t know what this disease is, but it doesn’t survive easily,” he wrote in a message translated on Reddit.
Multiple messages to the management of Chimaev and the UFC were not returned immediately. But White later told MMA Junkie that he had spoken to the fighter and clarified his plans. The UFC recently took Chimaev to his hometown, Las Vegas, for treatment, and White said the consequences of his recovery motivated his apparent retirement.
“When he got here, doctors took care of him and gave him prednisone, which is an unpleasant steroid drug,” said White. “So he’s taking prednisone, and he should be taking this thing and relaxing, relaxing and allowing himself to recover. He was ef * cking trained today, he felt like shit, and he got super emotional and posted it.
“He shouldn’t be training, but you know, this guy is a savage. He wants to fight like every shit weekend, and now he can’t even train, so he got emotional and posted it, but he won’t give up. “
According to his representatives, Chimaev was hospitalized several times after having several health problems, receiving antibiotics for bronchitis. In a behind-the-scenes video, his manager, Majdi Shammas, said the fighter started coughing after two rounds of work in preparation for the March 13 fight in Las Vegas. He was later taken to a local hospital; Shammas said the fighter later said he thought he was going to die.
Announcing Chimaev’s scratch, White said the 26-year-old star was suffering from a lung problem. It was the third time the fight was canceled after a positive COVID-19 nixed Edwards from UFC Vegas 17 and complications from the virus took Chimaev out of UFC Vegas 19.
“He was flown here so we could take care of him,” said White. “We take care of him. They put him on medication. He’s going to be fine, and he comes in and starts fucking training. He shouldn’t be training and is super frustrated.
“He is training when he should be resting. He has to stay off, at least while he is taking this medication. “
Chimaev, a product of the Allstars Training Center in Stockholm, shot to fame in the UFC on Ilha da Luta, where he claimed consecutive victories in the middle and middleweight stoppage over a period of 10 days. He followed that up two months later with a shocking knockout punch from Gerald Meerschaert that put him on the short list as a future challenger for the title.
The fight against Edwards, the highlight of the welterweights in a sequence of eight victories, seemed to be the gateway to the containment of a fighter who captivated the attention of fans around the world.
Chimaev’s health problems underscore a sudden reversal of luck and the severity of the virus, which claimed more than 2.5 million lives and left many long haulers with debilitating symptoms that prevent them from resuming their normal lives.
Here is Chimaev’s full statement:
“I want to thank everyone very much for supporting me on my journey in this sport. I think I finished, yes, I know I didn’t take the belt, but it’s not the most important victory of his life, it can upset you, but my heart and body tell me everything. I want to thank my team very much [Allstars Training Center]. I want to thank the UFC a lot. “