Before the Robert Whitakker fight at UFC 308, there was a lot of uncertainty involving Khamzat Chimaev’s future in the UFC. He had from one of the most active fighters in the promotion to having year-long lay offs and pulling out of PPVs at the 11th hour. So what really happened to ‘Borz’? Chimaev claims its due to a weak immune system and a more than few surgeries.
It’s something his former teammates have also spoken out as well. Former light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson once told th media about how Chimaev does not get enough recovery in and keeps pushing his body to the limit every training session.
The human body can only take so much before it stats breaking down. And Chimaev, despite his undefeated status in the octagon, cannot win against evolution.
Thankfully, Chimaev gets it now!
“The point is, I train very hard. I am always grinding in the gym. So when you train non-stop, your immune system gets weakened. But fans don’t know. They always want to shake your hands or hug you. So when your immune system is weak, you can catch some infections.”
In a tell-all interview with Adam Zuba on YouTube, the Russian fighter also spoke about the different procedures he went through in the last few years. It came to a point where he even considered hanging up the gloves because of how often he would fall sick or get injured,
“It is no secret, I used to get sick quite often. Overall, I’ve had five or six surgeries so far and seven or eight fractures…I put myself together. Doctors told me so many times I wouldn’t be able to fight… I had some issues ahead of the Usman fight too. I just didn’t tell anybody about it.”
In just the last couple of years, Chimaev has had had to pull out of some big fights because he would fall sick just days before the fight. He would get extremely high fever and his body would just shut down.
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Luckily for him, he has always found his way back, and in his last fight against Whittaker, ‘Borz‘ proved to everyone that he is still a contender for the world title.
White wants Chimaev for the title
The title shot is something that has been a long time coming for ‘Borz’. His main problem was never any opponent in the division, rather, it was a struggle for him to stay fit and healthy. He has been ragdolling everyone since he arrived at the company and had he stayed healthy, there’s a good chance his name would have been etched on that belt.
But now that he feels healthier than ever thanks to his new team, UFC president White wants to see him fight in the United States for the middleweight title.
“This guy’s never looked better, especially against the competition that he had. I’m looking forward to him getting a title fight in ’25….I want him to fight in the United States. I want him to fight for a title here in the U.S.”
Chimaev is a global star and he has an army of fans even in the United States, so only fighting in the UAE does seem like a wasted opportunity for him.
