Will UFC star Chimaev retire? What did his manager say?
‘Borz’ was expected to be one of UFC’s attractions this year but he had to withdraw from his fight against Whittaker due to health problems.
Last week was probably the worst one the UFC has ever lived. After the confirmation that Conor McGregor wouldn’t fight Michael Chandler in the UFC 303 main event, the world’s biggest mixed martial arts company announced last Thursday that another of his best fighters, Khamzat Chimaev, wouldn’t be able to take on Robert Whittaker on this weekend’s headliner.
With very little time to react, UFC boss Dana White found a replacement for ‘Borz’ in Ikram Aliskerov, a solid opponent for the former middleweight champion Whittaker.
After White announced that the undefeated Chimaev was forced to withdraw due to health issues, stating he was “violently ill”, one of Chimaev’s training partners, Mukhammad Eskirkhanov, uploaded a picture on his socials showing the Chechen fighter lying in a hospital bed.
What did Chimaev’s manager say regarding his UFC future?
As it happened with McGregor, when the UFC only revealed the Irishman wouldn’t face Chandler without giving a specific reason, White didn’t share any details about Chimaev’s disease.
The freestyle wrestler broke his silence on social media for the first time today.
“We always plan something but Allah has his own plans for us! Alhamdulilah”, he wrote.
While many fans were left wondering if this could be Chimaev’s career end as an MMA artist, his manager, Majdi Shammas, denied any retirement rumors.
“It’s absolutely not true,” Shammas told MMA Junkie. “We are planning on getting to the bottom of this situation, the problems. He will be back”, he stated.
Chimaev, who has been in the octagon only once in the past two years, last fought in October against former champion Kamaru Usman, a battle that Borz won via majority decision after three rounds.