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'Think I'm done': UFC phenom in shock 'retirement' announcement

Riley Morgan
·Sports Reporter
·2-min read
Khamzat Chimaev (pictured) gets his hand raised as he celebrates a victory.
Khamzat Chimaev (pictured) appears to have retired from MMA after a post on social media. (Getty Images)

UFC sensation Khamzat Chimaev has shocked the sport after appearing to announce his retirement due to ongoing Covid-related issues.

Chimaev made history last year after fighting three times in less than two months, but the Russian-Swedish fighter has appeared to hang up the gloves.

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“I want to say thank you to everyone for their support in my path in this sport,” he wrote in Russian.

“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 the UFC].”

The Russian-Swedish phenom, 9-0 in his professional career, was expected to fight Leon Edwards back in December before Chimaev announced he had Covid-19.

Chimaev then tested positive in January, which delayed the fight even more.

It was pushed back a third time to March 13, though that was delayed again as Chimaev was struggling with the virus — something that is apparently still bothering him.

Dana White refutes retirement claim

However, UFC boss Dana White has come and said Chimaev may have been emotional after struggling to train and he wasn't quitting.

“When he got [to Las Vegas], the doctors took care of him, and they put him on prednisone, which is a nasty f***ing steroid,” White told MMA Junkie.

So he’s on prednisone, and he’s supposed to be taking this thing and chilling, relaxing, and letting himself recover. He went in and f***ing trained today, felt like s***, and got super emotional and posted that.

“He’s not supposed to be training, but you know, this guy’s a savage. He wants to fight like every f***ing weekend, and now he can’t even train, so he just got emotional and posted that, but he ain’t quitting.”

with Ryan Young - Yahoo Sport US

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