MMA star Khamazt Chimaev has finally addressed his health issues.
The undefeated UFC middleweight has struggled for fitness ever since he contracted COVID-19 before his proposed fight with Leon Edwards in 2020.
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Throughout 2024, ‘Borz’ has worried his fans by sharing pictures of him looking desperately sick in hospital suffering from an unknown illness.
However, all appeared to be well as he prepared to face former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in Saudi Arabia last month.
Just days before their fight, Chimaev withdrew from the event and UFC boss Dana White claimed the Russian was ‘violently ill’ while announcing Ikram Aliskerov as his replacement.
Once Chimaev’s withdrawal was officially confirmed, his teammate, Guram Kutateladze, shared a worrying picture of him sitting beside the 13-0 contender as he lay in a hospital bed.
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A vague statement from Chimaev’s manager followed, but no one has been able to say what symptoms the 30-year-old was suffering from, until now.
“I had a lung infection and all sorts of health problems,” he said during an interview with Aslanbek Badaev.
“Immune failure. We rested a little for a week, we rested, but I didn’t recover.
“I went to the hospital and had severe headaches. They said it was stress, that’s what was explained to me. I was in the hospital for two days, then I was at home for a week.
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“Then it started again. Three days later the same thing happened, I ended up in the hospital again.”
Chimaev has now returned home to Chechnya after spending three months in Abu Dhabi, which he thinks may have caused his illness, training to face Whittaker.
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He added: “This is completely different.
“Deserts, in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, there is no air to breathe. So, you wake up, just go out and breathe deeply, you know. There is no such thing.
“There is air conditioning. You go in the car, air conditioning. This is probably why I also developed illnesses. I was there for a long time. For three months I prepared diligently, and something went wrong little by little.
“All antibiotics are now finished. The second week we were slowly getting into shape and starting to train. We were running purely, but now this week we started to fight.”
Chimaev may well be heading back to Abu Dhabi for his next fight.
UFC 308 will take place in the UAE on October 26 and Chimaev believes the goal is to have him on the card.
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“I heard that Dana White wants me to fight in Abu Dhabi," he concluded.
“I think if we rush now, we will see how the first stage of preparation goes. Most likely we will fight then.”