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‘Violently ill’ Khamzat Chimaev breaks silence after pulling out of UFC’s historic Saudi Arabia debut

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Ameetosh Dash | Last updated Jun 14, 2024 12:34 PM ET

The much anticipated UFC Saudi Arabia recently lost its biggest superstar, Khamzat Chimaev. With only one week away from the fight, the ‘Borz’ was forced to pull his name out of the fight against Robert Whittaker. Amidst all the speculations about Chimaev, his manager has finally made some concerning announcements.

UFC CEO Dana White previously broke the unfortunate news, claiming that Khamzat Chimaev was violen t ly ill and wouldn’t recover in time for the fight. Chimaev’s manager then confirmed it through an Instagram post. According to his manager, Chimaev has suffered persistent illness throughout his training camp.

The persistent illness that Khamzat has been battling for major parts of training camp could not be cured in time. He has been in and out of hospitals several times. The condition has been kept within the team, since everyone has been absolutely committed to finding a solution.....Stepping into the cage not properly prepared against such a formidable opponent as Robert is unfortunately impossible. Khamzat Chimaev’s manager via Instagram

Chimaev has seven UFC victories and remains unbeaten throughout his career. In his most recent fight, he defeated Kamaru Usman, the former welterweight champion, via majority decision. The Chechen fighter might have entered the title picture if he had defeated a top middleweight like Robert Whittaker. Unfortunately, Chimaev will have to wait longer for his shot at the title.

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The card was centered around Chimaev because of his popularity in the Middle East, and there was a lot of excitement surrounding the bout. Even though the fight was in rival territory, Whittaker was motivated to get his hand raised in Saudi Arabia. However, the Aussie middleweight might have never expected all this last-minute chaos.

Robert Whittaker takes on the new challenge despite the risk of losing it all

Following Khamzat Chimaev’s withdrawal from the main event in Saudi Arabia, the UFC made a last-ditch effort to reschedule Robert Whittaker against Ikram Alikerov. Aliskerov will now travel to Saudi Arabia to take on Whittaker instead of fighting Antonia TRacoli at UFC Vegas 93.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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