Khamzat Chimaev: 'I'm coming back to smash everybody'

UFC rising prospect Khamzat Chimaev who was on rage was sidelined and also took retirement due to COVID-19 complications, but seems like now he has decided to come back.

Khamzat Chimaev became a star during the Covid times when he fought back to back in a matter of 10 days against the likes of John Phillips and Rhys McKee and brutally defeated them. He then took on Gerald Meerschaert and knocked him out in just 17-seconds at UFC Fight Night 178 last September. Khamzat Chimaev was then scheduled to fight top welterweight contender Leon Edwards on December 19, but that fight got pushed back after the Briton contracted Covid-19.

The fight was then rescheduled for Jan 17 at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. That fight was canceled as this time around it was Khamzat who contracted Covid-19. The fight with Leon Edwards was again rescheduled for March 14. This time around, Khamzat announced that he won’t be competing against Leon Edwards following the lingering effects of Covid-19.

After being sidelined due to COVID-19, Khamzat took to social media to announce his retirement. He also uploaded a pic of blood in his basin, that may or may not be related to the lingering effects of Covid-19.

“I want to say thank you all so much for supporting me in my journey in this sport. I think I’m done, yes I know I didn’t take the belt but it’s not the most important victory in this life. It may upset you but my heart and body tell me everything. I want to say a big thank you to my team @allstargymsweden. I want to say a big thank you to @ufc,” Chimaev wrote on Instagram.

Before the retirement announcement, Khamzat was looking at an Octagon return in June/July against a top-ranked contender.

Khamzat Chimaev has changed his mind

After Chimaev was forced out of his March 13 main event fight against Leon Edwards, he announced his retirement from MMA. He was dealing with lingering effects of COVID-19 and couldn’t train properly, forcing him to retire.

While Khamzat’s retirement post left doubt as to whether the fast-rising prospect would continue his octagon run, UFC president Dana White said Chimaev – who is currently in Las Vegas receiving treatment for a lingering case of COVID-19 – had an emotional moment but isn’t ready to call it a career.

“When he got here, the doctors took care of him, and they put him on prednisone, which is a nasty f*cking steroid,” White told MMA Junkie. “So he’s on prednisone, and he’s supposed to be taking this thing and chilling, relaxing, and letting himself recover. He went in and f*cking trained today, felt like sh*t, and got super emotional and posted that.

“He’s not supposed to be training, but you know, this guy’s a savage. He wants to fight like every f*cking weekend, and now he can’t even train, so he just got emotional and posted that, but he ain’t quitting.”

Now, Chimaev took to Twitter to announce he will be coming back.