Khamzat Chimaev ends fight camp preparations for Ramadan

By Susan Cox - February 21, 2023

Khamzat Chimaev has ended his fight camp preparations for Ramadan.

Khamzat Chimaev misses weight at UFC 279

Chimaev (12-0 MMA) last fought in September of 2022 at UFC 279 where he defeated Kevin Holland (23-9 MMA) via submission. The Swedish born 28-year-old has yet to lose a fight in the Octagon.

Khamzat has an impressive 12 victories of which 6 have been by knockout and 5 by submission.

Taking to social media the fighter advised:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Khamzat Chimaev (@khamzat_chimaev)

“We’ll be back after Ramadan Insha’Allah.”

Ramadan occurs in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community. Islam is the world’s second largest religion after Christianity and has more than 1 billion followers.

Ramadan occurs from Wednesday, March 22nd to Thursday, April 20th.

For athletes who practice the Islamic faith, it would be near impossible to train during the Ramadan period.

Prior to ‘Borz’ making the announcement, he had been training in both Saudi Arabia and Thailand.

There has been no word on who the Chechen will fight next.

UFC President, Dana White, had previously mentioned a Khamzat Chimaev vs Colby Covington (17-3 MMA) bout at UFC 286 on March 18th, but that has since gone by the wayside. The next event would be UFC 287 scheduled for April 8th, which would arguably be too soon for a proper camp for Chimaev.

Perhaps the earliest we will see Khamzat Chimaev back in the cage is at UFC 288 on May 6th.

The big question becomes who his opponent will be?

Late last year, the fighter posted in a video blog:

“Nobody wants to fight. F*** these boys. They gave me four different countries, four different opponents. Nobody wants to fight.”

“I’m going to fight somebody. I don’t know who. They change opponents all the time. Every week I have a new opponent, but nobody wants to fight.”

“The guys trash talk loud about me and ‘I want to fight you, I want to fight you!’ When it comes to the fight and signing the contract, they want to run away.”

The frustration is showing, and with no official timeframe from the promotion, it’s hard to know exactly when we’ll see Khamzat Chimaev back in the cage.

Who would you like to see ‘Borz’ fight next?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!