In March 2021, Khamzat Chimaev He shocked the MMA world after he announced that he would quit the sport of MMA. Khamzat was suffering from the effects of COVID-19 and decided that he could no longer fight. The news has stunned many as Khamzat has made absolute progress in his career.
He was coming from dominant victories in his previous matches and was expected to win the title. Chimaev was having a hard time recovering from the illness and after a lot of counseling and treatment he fully recovered and returned to the competition. ‘Borz’ is now booked to face the second-place middleweight, Gilbert Burns He’s at UFC 273 and his defeat of Burns could give him a title chance against Kamaru Usman.
Head of Chechen republic says Khamzat Chimaev will enter rehab after shocking retirement announcement
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Khamzat’s Jiu-Jitsu coach Alan “Finfou” Nascimento recalled the time when Khamzat made a statement about his retirement: “The UFC told him he couldn’t train, the doctors put him on too much medication. [But] went to Xtreme Couture to fight. And all of a sudden she started coughing and spitting blood. There were many cases of top athletes at the time dealing with serious complications or even death after COVID because they did not respect the post-COVID rules. [rest time]” (H/T MMA Fighting)
“She didn’t know how to deal with this situation”– Coach said Khamzat Chimaev panicked and mishandled the situation
Alan said Khamzat was so used to training that he couldn’t believe that all this had happened to him. There was no one around to console him, and it affected him mentally. “That’s when he fell into despair” said Nascimento. “There was no one by her side, people she was used to listening to, people she trusted, so she went ahead and said, ‘It’s not worth doing this and risking my life.’ That’s when he did that job and said he wanted to retire.”
“We knew he wouldn’t do that in our circle” said Nascimento. “A young boy living all this hype. One day he lives in a room at the gym, shares lunch with two people, and the next day he becomes the hottest man in the MMA world, the world’s largest organization. He didn’t know how to deal with this situation.” (H/T MMA Fighting)
Also read – “Because of the Media” – Chael Sonnen explains why Khamzat Chimaev is one win away from the title fight
