Getty Khamzat Chimaev & Dana White
Rising MMA star Khamzat Chimaev announced his apparent retirement on social media earlier this week and UFC president Dana White “has no idea what’s going to happen with him.”
“Borz” has been dealing with medical problems since contracting COVID-19 a few months ago, including lung and fatigue issues. When Chimaev wrote, “I think I’m done,” on Instagram, it was a surprise to most MMA fans, as well as the UFC president.
While appearing on The Jim Rome Show Wednesday, White gave his assessment of Chimaev and an update on what he’s doing to combat the lingering COVID-19 effects. He said Borz is currently taking medication for his lungs and should be resting and not training, however Chimaev went to the gym anyway.
“I thought it was crazy,” White said about Chimaev’s apparent retirement post. “I mean, we just talked to the guy. We just flew him out [to Las Vegas] to get him looked at by doctors out here. The problem is, the guy has no patience whatsoever. He wants to fight every weekend. He knows he has the ability to be a world champion. He wants it now, he doesn’t want to wait.”
“They had him on prednisone, which is a nasty steroid to help his lungs recover. And the guy is going to the gym and training when he’s not supposed to be. He’s supposed to be relaxing. He’s supposed to get through this prescription, then they’re going to find out how he looks.
“He wouldn’t wait. He just keeps on training and you can’t do that when you have what he has going on.”
Earlier this week, White told MMA Junkie that he believes Chimaev got very emotional over how the training session went while on prednisone and that’s why he posted about retiring.
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White Originally Said He Expected Chimaev to Return in June, But the UFC President Now Says Has ‘No Idea’ About Borz
In his interview with MMA Junkie, White also said he expected to see Borz back inside the Octagon in June. But the UFC president has seemingly changed his tune. When Rome asked White for his thoughts on what was next for Chimaev, the UFC president said he had “no idea.”
“It’s why we all love him,” White said on Chimaev wanting to train. “It’s why the guy got over a million followers in friggin two weeks on social media. You love guys like this. These are the type of guys that fight fans want to see fight and want to follow and get behind.
“But trying to contain and control this guy to do the right thing is absolutely impossible. So, to be honest with you, I have no idea what’s going to happen with him. I don’t know.”
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Chimaev Has Deleted the Instagram Post From Tuesday
An interesting note is that Borz deleted the Instagram post about his possible retirement, along with all his other posts except for one.
“I want to say thank you all so much for supporting me in my journey in this sport,” Chimaev wrote via Instagram translation. “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.”
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