Dana White is already eyeing up a new date for the return of Khamzat Chimaev after he was forced out of UFC Saudi Arabia.
The undefeated grappler was due to take the biggest step up of his career against Robert Whittaker in the main event of last night’s show in Riyadh. But a ‘violent illness’ cost him the fight, and it is unknown when he will ever be able to get back in the octagon.
Chimaev is one of the most feared contenders at middleweight and welterweight, but health issues have hindered his career to date. He even announced his retirement once in 2021 after coughing up blood due to an illness, but has since returned and beaten the likes of Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns.
Dana White looking at UFC 308 for Khamzat Chimaev’s octagon return
Khamzat Chimaev hasn’t fought since October of last year when he defeated Usman by way of a controversial Majority Decision. Prior to that, it had been over a year since his farcical UFC 279 weight miss saw his bout with Nate Diaz cancelled and a showdown with Kevin Holland hastily rearranged.
He was due back against Whittaker on Saturday night, but was ultimately replaced by Ikram Aliskerov who lost by first round knockout. And now White is hopeful that he will be able to fight in Abu Dhabi again.
Asked for an update on Chimaev during last night’s post-fight press conference, White wasn’t keen to make too much of a comment. But he did throw out the possibility of a new date, saying: “We’ll see what happens. Obviously maybe we try to move him over to Abu Dhabi and see if he can make that fight.”
The UFC have already announced that they are heading back for their annual show at the Etihad Arena on October 26. It will be entitled UFC 308, and will mark their 20th outing in the region to date.
Khamzat Chimaev’s teammate gives further details amid health struggles
Former world title contender Alexander Gustafsson has trained with Chimaev for years, and offered an interesting insight into the Swede’s health woes. Speaking with Crypto Betting Sites in a recent chat, he noted that he has always struggled with colds and illnesses, which has been exacerbated in recent years.
‘’The guy gets ill,” Gustafsson said. “There is something with his body that reacts to hard training because he is the hardest worker in the room, he’s always been the hardest worker. They have to run some tests and see what the background is.
“Whether there is something in his body that’s reacting to the hard training because he trains very hard. I hope they find what it is and take care of the problem and he gets better. He very easily catches a cold for example – a running nose, coughing, symptoms that are not a big deal at all, we all get that.
“But I’ve seen when he increases his training a lot, I know his body reacts differently to the training. I don’t know where it comes from. It’s crazy how he reacts to the training these days.”
However, the former light-heavyweight title contender believes that he still has what it takes to beat the top champions in his divisions. It is unlikely we see Chimaev back at welterweight to face Leon Edwards, but Gustafsson reckons he could beat the likes of Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya.
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