Khamzat Chimaev appears to announce retirement, but Dana White says ’emotional’ star will return



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Khamzat Chimaev appeared to announce his retirement from MMA three weeks after lingering symptoms of COVID-19 forced him to withdraw from UFC Vegas 21. But UFC President Dana White said the star rising UFC welterweight was actually gearing up for a comeback in June.

Chimaev wrote on Instagram (translated from Russian): “Thank you all for supporting me in my journey in this sport. I think I am done. He added that although he didn’t win a title, “it’s not the most important victory of this life.”

“It may bother you, but my heart and body tell me everything,” he wrote.

Later, Chimaev posted a photo on his Instagram story that showed a spray of what appeared to be blood down a sink.

“The bottom line is that I don’t know what this disease is but it doesn’t survive easily,” he wrote in a translated post on Reddit.

Several messages to Shimaev’s management and the UFC were not immediately returned. But White then told MMA Junkie that he spoke to the fighter and clarified his plans. The UFC recently transported Chimaev to his hometown of Las Vegas for treatment, and White said the fallout from his recovery prompted the apparent retirement post.

“When he got here, the doctors took care of him, and they put him on prednisone, which is a nasty f * cking steroid,” White said. “So he’s on prednisone, and he’s supposed to take this stuff and relax, relax and let it recover. He walked in and practiced today, felt like crap, and got super emotional and posted that.

“He’s not supposed to be training, but you know this guy is a savage.” He wants to fight like every fucking weekend, and now he can’t even train, so he just got emotional and posted that, but he just keeps on going.

According to his representatives, Chimaev has been hospitalized several times after suffering from several health problems, receiving antibiotics for bronchitis. In a behind-the-scenes video, his manager, Majdi Shammas, said the fighter started coughing after two sets of work in preparation for the March 13 fight in Las Vegas. He was then taken to a local hospital; Shammas said the fighter later told him he thought he was going to die.

Announcing Chimaev’s scratch, White said the 26-year-old star suffered from a problem with his lungs. This was the third time the fight has been called off after a positive COVID-19 barred Edwards from a reservation at UFC Vegas 17 and complications from the virus ruled out Chimaev from UFC Vegas 19.

“He was brought here so that we could take care of him,” White said. “We take care of him. They made him take medication. He’s gonna be fine, and he walks in and starts to practice fucking. He’s not supposed to be training and he’s super frustrated.

“He trains when he’s supposed to be resting. He should stay at rest, at least while he is taking this medicine.

Chimaev, a product of the Allstars Training Center in Stockholm, rose to UFC fame on Fight Island, where he won back-to-back welterweight and middleweight saves in 10 days. He followed that up two months later with a shocking one-shot knockout from Gerald Meerschaert that put him on the shortlist as a future title challenger.

The bout with Edwards, a standout welterweight on an eight-game winning streak, seemed like the gateway for a fighter who captured the attention of fans around the world.

Chimaev’s health problems underline a sudden reversal in fortunes and severity of the virus, which has claimed the lives of over 2.5 million people and left many “long-haul” with debilitating symptoms that keep them from growing. resume a normal life.

Here is Shimaev’s full statement:

“I would like to thank you all very much for supporting me in my journey in this sport. I think I am done, yes I know I did not take the belt but it is not the most important victory of his life it can upset you but my heart and body tell me everything. I want to say a big thank you to my team [Allstars Training Center]. I want to say a big thank you to the UFC. “

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