Despite great hype around his name and a dominant resume, Khamzat Chimaev's first UFC title opportunity did not materialize for nearly five years after his UFC debut in 2020.Chimaev's road to the UFC title shot against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 was marked with long periods of inactivity, physical and mental health issues as well as injuries. This even led to 'Borz' contemplating retirement in 2021. What caused him to consider ending his career? Let's explore.Did Khamzat Chimaev have cancer?Shortly after making a grand entry to the UFC, Khamzat Chimaev briefly retired in March 2021 but later reversed his decision. With an undefeated 13-0 record, the 30-year-old Russian is widely regarded as one of the UFC's most vicious competitors. His scheduled bout against Leon Edwards in December 2020 was scrapped due to COVID-19 complications.Chimaev's health took a turn for the worse when he ignored medical advice and returned to training just weeks after testing positive for the virus, experiencing severe breathing difficulties and coughing up blood during workouts.During his appearance on the Full Send Podcast in 2023, Khamzat Chimaev disclosed that his temporary retirement was prompted by a misdiagnosis of cancer. He explained that one doctor had wrongly informed him that he had cancer:"That time was hard man. It’s not the same man. You know that one time I said, the doctor said to me coming down, that 'You have a cancer', man. That’s why I said I was retired, I didn’t know what to say to my family. I didn’t know what to say to the people."He added:"Then we check again, the other doctor said 'No, you don’t have cancer', [but I’m] still coughing up blood… Still, once if a doctor said something to you, it’s in your head. You still go home, and you’re coughing up blood and sh*t. [It’s like], I’m finished man." [h/t BJPenn.com]Check out Khamzat Chimaev's comments below (38:40):Khamzat Chimaev opens up about physical and mental health strugglesWhile Khamzat Chimaev built a formidable reputation with dominant performances and quick turnarounds during his initial run, lingering health issues have taken away a lot of time from his professional MMA career. UFC CEO Dana White also said that it had been difficult for Chimaev to stay healthy in fight camps.Ahead of his UFC 308 fight against Robert Whittaker in October 2024, many noted Chimaev's unusually calm demeanor. Speaking about this change in an interview with Adam Zubayraev, Chimaev said:“I can say my depression is gone. I had a lot of problems I dealt with them thanks to God. I am just a human I also can have problems. Sometimes you need to think about solve them you catch depression A lot happened. Thank God it’s gone now I have a new team, I have new doctors, and pharmacologists I never had such a team before. I never even took vitamins before. I was like a street fighter just training and fighting I wasn’t a professional. You can say I was playing with it.”Check out Khamzat Chimaev's comments below: View this post on Instagram Instagram Post