Khamzat Chimaev greatly disappointed the world of mixed martial arts when he was forced to pull out of his fight against Robert Whittaker at UFC’s debut in Riyadh. As per the reports, the Swedish mixed martial artist was ‘violently ill’ and the fight between him and Whittaker was scrapped out of the schedule. Needless to say, Chimaev’s withdrawal disappointed the UFC head honcho, as well, as he expressed his discontent at the middleweight fighter’s frequent health problems. 

But now, ‘The Reaper’ and ‘Borz’ are scheduled to fight once again at UFC 308. However, the fighting community has continued to cast a shadow over the bout. Will the fight between Chimaev and Whittaker really materialize? 

Is Khamzat Chimaev injured before UFC 308 against Robert Whittaker?

As the news of the 3-round bout between Chimaev and Whittaker garnered all the attention of the fight fans, they began wondering if the Swedish fighter was injured again. The last time he was slated to fight Whittaker, it wasn’t an injury, but sickness that sidelined the Chechen fighter. 

Talking about the Chechen Wolf in an interview with Submission Radio, Caio Borralho claimed that the reason for Chimaev’s health issues was his habit of over-training. Borralho pointed out that he had never seen anyone train as hard as ‘Borz’. He continued, “Maybe that’s why sometimes he, like, kills his body and doesn’t make it to the fight. But definitely, he’s the guy that over-trains everyone in the room.”

But things seem pretty fine with Chimaev right now. He has continued training for his upcoming fights about a couple of weeks after UFC Saudi Arabia. The Chechen Wolf has been attracting quite a bit of attention ever since. However, with the fighting community wondering about his health, the Chechen Wolf’s training routines that he displays on his social media profiles prove that his health is not compromised. 

The realm of mixed martial arts can indeed expect the fight to materialize and be greatly entertaining. After all, even ‘The Reaper’ claimed that Chimaev was quite an attraction. While he believed that the UFC wanted to see Chimaev at the top of the middleweight ladder, Whittaker wanted to derail the plans and defeat ‘Borz’ in a phenomenal display of power. But with Chimaev’s history of pulling out of fights, uncertainty still looms over the bout in October.

All about ‘Borz’s’ pullouts from previous PPV events

Chimaev has successfully remained undefeated in the UFC, but his career is filled with canceled fights. Within a span of 5 years, the Swedish fighter has pulled out of 6 fights, 5 of which were against pretty big names. The first time Chimaev was forced to withdraw from a fight was when he contracted COVID-19. He was set to fight Leon Edwards back in December 2020. But testing positive for COVID poured water all over the blueprint of the fight night.

Chimaev’s fight with ‘Rocky’ was rescheduled to January 2021. However, his lungs hadn’t fully recovered and he wasn’t able to give his all during training. He pulled out of another fight against Edwards, asking for more recovery time. As the fighting community jumped high in excitement with Chimaev vs. Edwards slated for a third time, history repeated itself and Chimaev pulled out yet again due to lingering COVID-19 problems. 

‘Borz’ was then set to fight Nate Diaz at UFC 279. This time, he ensured that he wasn’t bothered by the repercussions of COVID-19 infection. But his tries seemed to be in vain, as he weighed about 7 and a half pounds over the limit. He sent a shockwave of disappointment through the fighting realm with a missed weight and a canceled fight.

Pulling out of his fight with Whittaker was the fifth time Chimaev upset the fight fans with a withdrawal from a PPV event. Dana White pointed out that the Swedish middleweight fighter’s illness was pretty serious. But that doesn’t mean the UFC CEO wasn’t disheartened by the news. 

But this time, Chimaev seems to be taking special care and training to take the fight to Robert Whittaker. Do you think he will pull out of the fight for the 7th time? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.