Khamzat Chimaev News

Cole Shelton - March 23, 2021

Khamzat Chimaev is ready to return. After Chimaev was forced out of his March 13 main event fight against Leon Edwards, he announced his retirement from MMA. He was dealing with lingering effects of COVID-19 and couldn’t train properly, forcing him to retire.

Chris Taylor - March 13, 2021

UFC President Dana White is no longer fully optimistic that fight fans will get to see Khamzat Chimaev compete inside the Octagon again. Chimaev (9-0 MMA) has been one of the many unfortunate victims of the global pandemic and due to lingering symptoms, has been unable to compete since the fall of 2020.

Adam Martin - March 4, 2021

The brother of UFC welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev says the Russian star became “depressed” and “frightened” after coughing up blood. Chimaev was one of the UFC’s breakout stars in 2020. The former BRAVE CF prospect joined the UFC on Fight Island last summer and proceeded to pick up three finishes over John Phillips, Rhys McKee, and Gerald Meerschaert. He was set to fight top-ranked Leon Edwards in a potential No. 1 contender bout earlier this year, but the fight was pushed back after Chimaev contracted COVID-19. The UFC pushed the fight back to March, but it was scratched a few weeks ago when Chimaev’s COVID-19 issues were not getting any better. Instead, Edwards now takes on Belal Muhammad on the March 13 UFC card.

Cole Shelton - March 4, 2021

Dana White doesn’t know what Khamzat Chimaev’s fighting future looks like. This past week, Chimaev took to Instagram where he appeared to announce his retirement from MMA. He still has lingering effects from COVID-19 and has thought he was going to die several times. However, after he posted the now-deleted message, White revealed Chimaev would still fight again, but now, he is uncertain about that.

Adam Martin - March 2, 2021

Chael Sonnen blasted the “fake tough guys” atop the UFC welterweight division, suggesting that “none of the top-five guys want to fight.” Sonnen was a guest on the “Victory Loves Company” podcast with Jim West and James Lynch, and was asked his thoughts on the UFC welterweight division. Kamaru Usman currently is the champion and seems likely to rematch Jorge Masvidal in his next fight, but nothing has been put to paper yet. Meanwhile, Colby Covington continues to sit out in hopes for a big fight, while Leon Edwards hasn’t fought in almost two years. It’s been frustrating for fans to watch, as the UFC 170lbs division is one of the marquee weight classes in the promotion. Yet for whatever reason, there doesn’t seem to be much urgency for the top fighters in the weight class to step into the cage, and Sonnen finds that very frustrating.

Tom Taylor - March 2, 2021

Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic, says he has convinced UFC star Khamzat Chimaev not to retire from mixed martial arts. Chimaev, a native of the Chechen Republic currently living in Sweden, is arguably the hottest prospect in MMA at present, but has been sidelined due to health complications stemming from a recent COVID-19 infection.

Christopher Taylor - March 1, 2021

Dana White has weighed in after budding UFC star Khamzat Chimaev announced his sudden retirement from mixed martial arts. Chimaev (9-0 MMA) has been one of many unfortunate victims of the global pandemic and due to lingering symptoms he has been unable to compete since last fall.

Cole Shelton - March 1, 2021

Khamzat Chimaev has apparently retired from MMA. Chimaev, who became a superstar in the UFC in 2020, was set to challenge Leon Edwards in December. However, the fight was postponed due to Edwards testing positive for COVID-19. The fight was rebooked for January but the Swede got COVID-19 and it was pushed back to March. However, due to the lingering effects of the virus, the fight was canceled again and now, it appears it has resulted in Chimaev announcing his retirement from MMA.

Tom Taylor - February 18, 2021

Former fighter and MMA analyst Chael Sonnen believes the UFC’s top welterweights are all “scared” of rising prospect Khamzat Chimaev. The UFC welterweight top 5 is currently jam-packed with elite talent like champ Kamaru Usman, and top contenders Colby Covington, Gilbert Burns, Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal. Unfortunately, the division’s top fighters haven’t been particularly active of late, and Sonnen believes that’s due in part to the arrival of Chimaev.

Cole Shelton - February 16, 2021

Khamzat Chimaev is en route to Las Vegas to receive medical care for his lingering effects from COVID-19. After Chimaev got COVID-19, his fight against Leon Edwards on January 20 was postponed until March 13. However, recently, it was revealed the fight was canceled again due to Chimaev still dealing with lingering effects from the virus.

Drake Riggs - February 12, 2021

Once again, the highly anticipated meeting between Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards has fallen through. After the bout’s cancellation on Thursday due to continued complications following his contraction of COVID-19 late last month, additional details about Chimaev’s condition have emerged.

Chris Taylor - February 12, 2021

Mike Perry has offered to step up and fight Leon Edwards on short notice after his scheduled UFC fight with Khamzat Chimaev fell through. Edwards and Chimaev were slated to headline next month’s UFC Fight Night 187 event on March 13. However, due to a lingering illness, ‘Borz’ was forced to withdraw from the highly anticipated welterweight matchup.

Cole Shelton - February 11, 2021

Khamzat Chimaev has been forced to pull out of his fight with Leon Edwards on March 13. Chimaev and Edwards were scheduled to face one another on December 19 and January 20 but both fights were postponed due to both men getting COVID-19. They were then rescheduled for March 13 but UFC president, Dana White revealed to ESPN that Chimaev has been forced to pull out of the fight due to lingering effects of the virus. The promotion is now moving on from the fight and the UFC is searching for a new opponent to fight Edwards.

Harry Kettle - February 11, 2021

UFC welterweight Leon Edwards believes Jorge Masvidal will find an excuse not to fight him even if he beats rising contender Khamzat Chimaev. Edwards is set to put his current winning streak on the line when he locks horns with Chimaev next month, with many believing that the latter could prove to be the next big thing in the UFC.

Harry Kettle - February 2, 2021

UFC welterweight Neil Magny has vowed to slap Khamzat Chimaev on sight in the wake of the latter’s trolling on social media. At one point a few months back it seemed like Magny and Chimaev could end up facing off against each other, but in the end, that didn’t come to fruition and Magny was instead booked to fight Michael Chiesa on Fight Island.

Adam Martin - January 31, 2021

Ahead of their upcoming main event matchup, UFC welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev admitted that he has never watched Leon Edwards fight. After two previous matchups fell apart due to COVID-19 issues, Chimaev and Edwards will now meet in the headliner of a UFC Fight Night card on March 13. Fight fans are crossing their fingers that both men remain healthy so this fight can finally take place as expected, with the winner of the bout potentially earning a title shot against the winner of UFC 258’s Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns championship fight.

Adam Martin - January 26, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev looked sharp on the pads during a recent training session with Alexander Gustafsson in Sweden. Chimaev finally returns to the Octagon on March 13 when he takes on Leon Edwards. The fight between these two rivals has been booked twice previously but each time it fell apart after both men tested positive for COVID-19. Chimaev was said to have had a rough battle with the coronavirus and was slow to make his recovery, pushing this bout back from its intended January 20 date to March 13. He appears to finally be healthy and he’s back in the gym at Allstars Training Center in Stockholm.

Adam D Martin - January 24, 2021

UFC welterweight Khamzat Chimaev took aim at promotional superstar Conor McGregor following his UFC 257 knockout loss to Dustin Poirier. Chimaev was one of a number of fighters who took a shot at McGregor following his surprising knockout defeat at UFC 257. McGregor had a fast start to the contest, winning the first round on all three judges’ scorecards, but the second round was a much different story as he was stopped by strikes. Following the bout, Chimaev took to Twitter to take a shot at McGregor after Poirier TKO’d him. Take a look at what Chimaev wrote on his social media.