Chimaev Reveals Mystery Illness: ‘I Was Very Sick’

Chimaev shared shocking photos of an unnamed illness that has kept the Chechen fighter from claiming his middleweight title shot.

Khamzat Chimaev has had a tough couple of months following his split decision win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 in October 2023.

The UFC had announced that Chimaev would become the No. 1 contender at 185 pounds should he defeat “The Nigerian Nightmare” in Abu Dhabi. Weeks later, they announced Dricus Du Plessis would fight Sean Strickland for the middleweight title next. A torn tendon in Chimaev’s hand was initially blamed, but the situation was apparently much worse.

Chimaev recently tweeted and then deleted a series of photos showing him looking very sick in a hospital. The images show red hives covering his entire body, a swollen face, and bloodshot eyes. In some of the pictures he is wearing a respirator.

“I was very sick, my hand was injured, so I couldn’t return right away, I wanted to tell all the fans, I want to see myself in battle more than all of you,” he wrote above the images. “I love this job, I will do and prove that I am the best, as always we do, and I will be back soon to training Insha’Allal.”

That post didn’t last long before getting deleted. In its place, Khamzat posted a new video where he’s looking much healthier.

“I’m coming back soon,” he says with a chuckle. “For my belts!”

This isn’t the first time Khamzat Chimaev has dealt with serious illness in the UFC. After a lengthy layoff in 2020-2021 due to Long COVID, an emotional “Borz” announced his retirement from the sport. That’s how bad his symptoms were at the time. After more medical intervention and patience, he returned to action in October 2021 to beat Li Jingliang, Gilbert Burns, and Kevin Holland.