Dana White doesn’t know what Khamzat Chimaev’s fighting future looks like.
This past week, Chimaev took to Instagram where he appeared to announce his retirement from MMA. He still has lingering effects from COVID-19 and has thought he was going to die several times. However, after he posted the now-deleted message, White revealed Chimaev would still fight again, but now, he is uncertain about that.
“We all love the kid and how he got a million followers in a couple of weeks on social media, that is the type of fighter fight fans like to watch, that they like to follow. He wants to fight every weekend,” Dana White said about Khamzat Chimaev at the UFC 259 pre-fight press conference. “The guy has some effects from having COVID so he is on some heavy medication and he’s supposed to be resting and relaxing.
“He’s not, he’s training like an animal. What happened to him is what’s going to happen if you don’t listen to the doctors. He needs to take time off, he needs to relax and heal and then he can come back and fight,” White continued about Khamzat Chimaev. “But, I don’t know what he is going to do. We flew him out here to get him looked at. He’s a grown man he can do whatever he wants, we are trying to help him in every way we can. He needs to chill out is what he needs to do.”
Khamzat Chimaev is 3-0 in the UFC and coming off a one-punch KO over Gerald Meerschaert. Before that, he had dominant wins over Rhys McKee and John Phillips in a 10-day stretch on Fight Island. Before entering the UFC, he was a relative unknown but by the end of the year, many were considering him to be a future champion. He was also booked to fight Leon Edwards in what would’ve been a number one contender bout at welterweight.
Do you think Khamzat Chimaev will fight again?