Dana White reacts after UFC star Khamzat Chimaev retires from MMA

By Christopher Taylor - March 1, 2021

Dana White has weighed in after budding UFC star Khamzat Chimaev announced his sudden retirement from mixed martial arts.

Dana White, UFC Jacksonville, Anthony Smith, Glover Teixeira, Sean O'Malley

Chimaev (9-0 MMA) has been one of many unfortunate victims of the global pandemic and due to lingering symptoms he has been unable to compete since last fall.

Following his 17-second knockout win over Gerald Meerschaert in September, ‘Borz’ was booked to fight top welterweight contender Leon Edwards. However, after three slated bookings failed to come to fruition, the UFC ultimately moved on from the bout.

UFC President Dana White recently flew Khamzat Chimaev out to Las Vegas so that the fighter could receive the best medical treatment possible. That move seemed to be working, as Chimaev had recently posted photos of himself in Dana with the message “See you in June”.

Khamzat-Chimaev

PhotoCred: YouTube – FrontKick.Online

However, everything changed this evening when Khamzat took to his official Instagram page and shocked the MMA world by announcing his retirement from the sport.

“I want to say thank you all so much for supporting me in my journey in this sport. I think I’m done, yes I know I didn’t take the belt but it’s 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 big thank you to my team @allstargymsweden. I want to say a big thank you to @ufc.” – Khamzat Chimaev wrote (via google translate).

Most recently, UFC President Dana White weighed in the situation where he refuted Khamzat’s claims saying the budding star is just emotional.

“When he got here, the doctors took care of him, and they put him on prednisone, which is a nasty f*cking 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*cking trained today, felt like sh*t, 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*cking weekend, and now he can’t even train, so he just got emotional and posted that, but he ain’t quitting.”

Do you think we will see Khamzat Chimaev back in action this June as UFC President Dana White suggests? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!