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Khamzat Chimaev was scheduled to headline the UFC’s first occasion in Saudi Arabia with the possibility to punch his ticket to a middleweight title shot. Sadly, these plans modified this previous week.
Chimaev was set to make his first look of 2024 in an enormous combat towards former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker this Saturday earlier than being pressured out of the bout with an sickness. Chimaev will now have to look at former opponent Ikram Aliskerov face Whittaker within the new headliner.
The undefeated Chimaev launched his first feedback following the withdrawal on his Instagram web page on Monday.
“We at all times plan one thing however Allah has his personal plans for us,” Chimaev wrote.
As of now, there aren’t any particulars surrounding Chimaev’s sickness, or a timeline of when he might be able to return to the octagon.
UFC CEO Dana White mentioned in his announcement of the brand new UFC Saudi Arabia principal occasion that Chimaev fell “violently sick” through the remaining stretches of preparation for Whittaker. Talking on The Jim Rome Present on Monday, White continued to acknowledge that, whereas additionally acknowledging that Chimaev’s previous few yr stretch has been fairly the thriller.
“I noticed this child on Battle Island, he wished to combat the subsequent weekend,” White mentioned. “I let him combat the subsequent weekend. He regarded unimaginable. He’s been on this tear and currently it’s been exhausting to get him into the octagon.
“Each time he will get near combating, he will get actually sick. I don’t know [how long he’s going to be out]. I don’t know what to say. It’s not like he’s over right here on this nation and we’ve had docs right here take a look at him or something like that. He’s kind of out of contact so it’s robust to take care of.”
“Borz” returned to motion following a 13-month layoff when he confronted former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 this previous October. After an unimaginable first spherical the place he mauled his opponent, issues received a bit of dicey over the subsequent two rounds as Usman battled again to make it a really aggressive bout. In the long run, Chimaev earned a majority determination to enhance his document to 13-0.
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