Dana White uncertain when Khamzat Chimaev will fight again: “Every time he gets close to fighting, he gets really sick”

UFC CEO Dana White isn’t sure when Khamzat Chimaev will fight again after he was forced out of his UFC Saudi Arabia main event against Robert Whittaker.

Chimaev was set to headline the card on Saturday against the former champ in a highly-anticipated bout. However, just over a week out from the fight, it was revealed that Chimaev was out of the bout after being violently ill and was replaced by Ikram Aliskerov.

Now, following Khamzat Chimaev being forced out of another fight, Dana White says he isn’t sure what exactly is going on with Chimaev.

“Yeah, it’s a good question. The problem is we really don’t know (what’s wrong). Every time this guy gets close to a fight, I saw video footage of him on the ground violently ill. He was hospitalized again. He hadn’t trained for three or four days or five days, I don’t know exactly what the number was but we could not put him into a fight next weekend,” White said on Monday on The Jim Rome Show about Khamzat Chimaev.

White also says it’s been disappointing for everyone that Chimaev isn’t able to fight. But, to make matters worse, the UFC CEO says he isn’t sure how long Chimaev will be out for.

“I saw this kid on Fight Island, he wanted to fight the next weekend. I let him fight the next weekend. He looked incredible. He’s been on this tear and lately, it’s been hard to get him into the Octagon. Every time he gets close to fighting, he gets really sick. I don’t know (how long he’s going to be out). I don’t know what to say. It’s not like he’s over here in this country and we’ve had doctors here look at him or anything like that. He’s sort of out of touch so it’s tough to deal with,” White added about Khamzat Chimaev.

This isn’t the first time Chimaev has been ill, as after he got COVID-19 he retired due to the illness, but that was short-lived. However, it appears Chimaev is once again dealing with an illness which could keep him out of action for quite some time.