Khamzat Chimaev are motivated to fight before the end of 2026.
If that’s the case, Chimaev still wants to get back in the cage and in the win column. He is called out the entire middleweight top five with this goal in mind. However, if he doesn’t return to action soon, Chimaev recently admitted he may take a break and go under the knife to repair some lingering injuries.
“As for the fight, I’m trying to get it,” said Khamzat Chimaev The Hustle Show. “I was supposed to get it in October and now I’m trying to get it in December. If nothing happens in October or December, I think I’ll take a little break. I’ve got a lot of injuries. I need to get them treated. I’ve been postponing, postponing, postponing my surgeries. I go into every fight with some issues.
“I don’t really like to talk about my problems or injuries. People already know that I get sick a lot. That’s just the way it is with me. I don’t even have half a thyroid gland. I’ve been under anesthesia seven times, six operations and many injuries. And I still do.”
Chimaev suffers much criticism for inactionbut his explanation here seems fair. If the UFC is going to bench him for the next three months — and it’s already been four months since the Strickland loss — why not try to get better? Sitting on the sidelines won’t improve his position in the title picture, but if the UFC doesn’t allow him to fight, he might as well make the most of it.
Before this 2020 illness, Chimaev was fighting all the time and never struggled with weight gain.
