UFC middleweight Khamzat Chimaev’s star has taken a huge beating in the eyes of UFC fans over the past few years. Pulling out from six fights in the past few years has dwindled the confidence fans had in ‘Borz’. To add to this, recent scams such as prompting his own cryptocurrency only to later shut it down has further resulted in fan anger towards Chimaev.
This was on display as fans reacted to a video of Chimaev training in the mountains for a return.
Following his pull out of the Robert Whittaker fight at UFC 303, Borz was seen promoting a crypto scam, leading fans who once called him the next big thing to believe him being the biggest disappointment since the last season of Game of Thrones.
So when a recent Twitter video of him training in the mountains in preparation for his UFC return went viral, fans gathered at the proverbial town square to let the 30-year-Chechen fighter know their feelings.
️ Khamzat Chimaev training in the mountains
IG / @KChimaev #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/E61eioZaS3
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 8, 2024
One fan said,
“Training for the next time he pulls out of another fight or misses weight.”
Another fan added,
“Man’s hiding in the mountains after the scam wow.”
“Has more of these training videos then he does fights”
– commented a fan making fun of Chimaev’s inability to make it to fight night.
“He’s training for his next crypto scam”
– said another fan.
A fan came up with a new nickname for the Chechen fighter saying,
“SCAMZAT”
Unfortunately, Borz’s inability to make it to the fight has dwindled not only the fans’ confidence in him but also Dana White’s.
White unsure of Chimaev’s future in the UFC
Before COVID-19, UFC head along with fans were convinced that Chimaev would be a future champion in the organization. He had the looks, the pedigree and he literally lifted people up and threw them down, smothered them on his way to victories.
However, four years on from his debut, things have drastically changed. His teammate and MMA veteran Alexander Gustafsson has even said that Chimaev has a compromised immune system and that he falls sick easily.
Dana White talks Khamzat Chimaev. pic.twitter.com/ilLN5Xmift
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) June 17, 2024
And when he does, he falls extremely sick which prevents him from doing anything related to fighting, leading to him missing weights for main events and cancelling fights at the 11th hour.
This has been extremely frustrating for UFC President Dana White, who doesn’t know if he can sell a fight with the Chechen’s face on the poster.
White expressed his frustration at the situation saying that since Chimaev is not allowed to come into the United States, he is unable to get his doctors to take a look at him. Therefore, he has to rely on the treatment that Chimaev is getting back at home which he is not happy with.
Hopefully, the man can recover and get back into the octagon soon, if not, he is in danger of becoming the biggest ‘what if’ of our sport.
