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Khamzat Chimaev recently revealed the reason behind his change of mind regarding MMA retirement. 'Borz' went down with a serious bout of COVID-19 in December 2020, which even led to him announcing his retirement from the sport.
However, Chimaev changed his mind after receiving adequate care in his native Chechnya. The welterweight prospect expressed gratitude to his 'brothers' for helping him regain his health.
Chimaev also revealed that Chechnya has cared for him on the condition that he resumes fighting after recovering. The 27-year old recently told Adam Catterall of BT Sport:
"You can't think about only MMA. You know, like, my family, how to watch them, how to put food on the table. If I die, I don't know what's gonna happen... Focus wasn't in MMA and that's why I said I'm gonna go out from the game. Then my brothers, when I go back to my home country, they help me, like, they bring a lot of good doctors and they help me. I'm thankful for that. My country said to me, 'If we help you, you have to get back brother.' I said, 'Of course, if you make me healthy I go back and smash everyone.'"
Watch Chimaev's interview with BT Sport below:
When Khamzat Chimaev announced his retirement
Khamzat Chimaev was scheduled to face Leon Edwards twice last year, with both fights falling through due to COVID-19. 'Borz' flew down to Las Vegas in February 2021 to receive medical treatment ahead of the second cancelation.
It was shortly afterwards that Chimaev abruptly announced his retirement on social media. The surging welterweight wrote on Instagram:
"I want to say thank you to everyone for their support in my path in this sport. I think I'm done, yes, I know that I didn't take the belt, but this is not the most important victory in this life. It may upset you, but my heart and body tell me everything. I want to say a huge thank you to my team. I want to say a huge thank you to UFC"
UFC President Dana White soon refuted this, claiming that Chimaev was emotionally overwhelmed after a bad training session. After paying a visit to 'Borz', Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov also confirmed that he would be making a return.
