Khamzat Chimaev still doesn’t know why he got so poorly ahead of his ill-fated UFC Saudi Arabia main event.
In June, the welterweight and middleweight contender was supposed to square off against former 185lb champion Robert Whittaker in his toughest test to date.
Unfortunately, a week before the bout UFC CEO Dana White announced that Chimaev was ‘violently ill’ in hospital before replacing him with Ikram Aliskerov, who got knocked out in the first round by Whittaker.
Worrying pictures of Chimaev looking worse for wear began circulating online, but now he’s seemingly back to full fitness and preparing to take on Whittaker again.
Khamzat Chimaev still doesn’t know what made him ‘violently ill’
Chimaev will finally fight Whittaker in the UFC 308 co-main event.
Ahead of the clash in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night, ‘Borz’ has reflected on his withdrawal from the contest that could’ve secured him a shot at Dricus du Plessis’ middleweight belt.
Worryingly, he still has no clue what led to him being hospitalized.
“We was in training camp, the first month was very good,” Chimaev said during the UFC 308 Countdown show.
“The last three weeks, my immunity goes down. I don’t know what happened. All the guys ate the same food [but] only me got sick.
“I was in the hospital for a couple of days. I came out and started training again and the same s*** happened again. The doctor said to me, ‘You need to just be off from the gym and not training, not doing nothing.’
“I went home to the mountains.”
Heading back home seemed to help as Chimaev is now fighting fit and just days away from facing off against Whittaker in the biggest bout of his life.
Robert Whittaker is sure he’ll ruin Khamzat Chimaev’s perfect record
Chimaev is undefeated since he became a pro fighter in 2018, with high-profile wins over Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns, and Kevin Holland. However, he’s not been fighting at the level Whittaker has for years.
‘The Reaper’ is looking to become a two-time middleweight champion – but first, he must do what no one else has been able to do and beat Chimaev.
“I’ve left no stone unturned, and I’ve trained my heart out for this,” Whittaker told talkSPORT MMA.
“I’m going to get in there, I’ve got 25 minutes with him. I’m looking to try and take his head off the entire 25 minutes, but I’ve addressed every skill set for this fight.”
“As soon as he steps inside that octagon with me, he’s in deep waters. He’s already in the waters that I want him to be in.
“It’s different because I’ve never been outright disliked, but you know what, it didn’t affect me too much three months ago in Saudi Arabia and I don’t expect it to affect me too much in this fight.
“One thing is I’ve never tried to play to the crowd and that’s what they see – they see real – I’m in there to do a job. I’m in there to try and put him away, to bury Chimaev. So, I’ll work on winning the crowd over after that.”