Chimaev Likely Out Until June

Khamzat Chimaev’s battle with COVID-19 is still ongoing. “Borz” came down with coronavirus last December, forcing him out of his scheduled bout against Leon Edwards. After the bout was rescheduled for UFC Vegas 21 on March 13, Chimaev was once again forced out of the fight as a result of lingering issues from the virus.

In fact, the lasting effects of were so bad that the UFC’s breakout star of 2020 felt he was going to die. Now, UFC officials are taking matters into their own hands with a recent report by ESPN stating that Chimaev will be flown to “Sin City” on UFC’s dime in order to receive medical care.

According to his manager Ali Abdelaziz, Chimaev is solely focused on getting better and his long-term health, which means if he has to sit on the sidelines for an extended period of time so be it. In fact, “Borz” — who is undefeated a 9-0, 3-0 UFC — will likely not make his highly-anticipated return to action until June.

Chimaev burst onto the scene in July of 2020 after submitting John Phillips at UFC Fight Island 1 in Abu Dhabi. 10 days later, he took out Rhys McKee via first round knockout, which was followed up by an eight-second destruction of Gerald Meerschaert two months later (see it again here).

With Chimaev’s reputation and popularity rising, fight fans were eager to see him fight again, and much to everyone’s surprise he was paired up against one of the toughest 170 pound fighters in the game in Edwards. Unfortunately, the fight just hasn’t been able to see the light of day as a result of COVID-19, with the first attempt getting torpedoed after “Rocky” tested positive.