Khamzat Chimaev will return in July or August, according to manager
Khamzat Chimaev is nearing a return to competition according to his manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
After Chimaev was forced out of his March 13 main event against Leon Edwards due to lingering issues with COVID-19. After having to pull out of the fight, he seemingly announced his retirement. However, according to his manager, Chiamev recently underwent a procedure that allowed him to get back in training just three days ago.
“He had a procedure,” Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie on Monday. “Actually, his first day of training was three days ago. He’s coming back with a vengeance, man. He has so much to prove. He was the guy main-eventing. Guess what? COVID rules the world right now, and COVID got him. You see Alexander (Volkanovski), the (UFC) featherweight champion. I hope he’s OK. He had some problems with it. Khamzat had some problems with it. Now he’s 100 percent healthy. He’s back training this week or last week.”
Now that he is back at training, according to Abdelaziz, Chimaev is looking to return in July or August. The opponent is uncertain, but Abdelaziz expects his client to make a statement in his return fight and prove to everyone how good he is.
“We’ll see him at the end of July (or) August,” Abdelaziz said. “Even Dana (White) was asking me the other day. I told him the end of July or August he’ll fight. I told Sean (Shelby), too. Realistically, I think it’s time to slow it down a little bit, but I think he’s going to make a (bigger) statement on the comeback. He’s going to keep climbing. He’s a special talent. He’s a superstar, I believe, in the making. All of us will see. Everyone who understands MMA will understand what Khamzat brings. It is what it is, and we have to move on. Sickness can’t control that.”
