There is no doubt that the physical health of Khamzat Chimaev is what led to his announcement of retirement. However Anthony Smith believes that it was more than the physical problems that led to this decision.
Like the rest of us, it came as a shock to Smith that Chimaev seemingly announced his retirement earlier in the week. After all, the undefeated Chechen fighter is only three fights into his UFC career.
Of course, the lingering health effects he has faced from contracting COVID-19 make it understandable why Khamzat said what he said. That likely contributed to him changing his mind, as well as speaking to Ramzan Kadyrov.
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Anthony Smith Thinks Khamzat Chimaev Will Be Back
For the most part, Dana White seem to think that Khamzat Chimaev’s retirement announcement came from a place of emotion. It seems that Anthony Smith backs up this sentiment with his own thoughts on the matter.
Speaking on SirusXM recently, the light heavyweight fighter made it clear that he thinks Chimaev will return. He just says that Khamzat was struggling with the idea of not feeling like the killer he normally is, but that he will be back.
“Sometimes when your body betrays you, it seems like it’s too much and you’re never going to be the same, and if you can’t be the same then you don’t want to compete if you can’t be the same. You don’t want to do it if you can’t be the person you were before it happened,” Smith explained.
“I have no doubt that Khamzat will be back. He’s in the fire so all of us are looking at it from the outside like ‘Oh that’s kind of silly, making a rash decision and being emotional,’ but when you’re in it…”
“He’s been sick for how long now? It’s been a long time. He’s not where he was before, and his body’s not reacting the way it used to. He’s used to being a f—king killer. He’s used to being a monster. He’s out here smoking people, it’s not even competitive at this point yet, and now he’s a shell of himself?” Smith added.
“There’s more than just physical stuff that goes along with that, there’s a lot of mental stuff. He’s not used to being weak. He’s not used to struggling. He’s not used to having a tough time, because of he’s so good and he works so damn hard.
“Through this, through injuries, through sickness, it doesn’t matter how hard you work, it just takes time and fighters aren’t patient.”
🔊 "Through injuries, through sickness… it takes time and fighters aren't patient."@lionheartasmith explains how fighters who face adversity like Khazmat Chimaev are quick to make decisions. 👊@RJcliffordMMA pic.twitter.com/3QVhPYfYoI
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) March 3, 2021
At the end of the day, Anthony Smith likely has a good point about the mental aspect of recovering from something like this. Hopefully it is not the end of Khamzat Chimaev’s career, and he will be able to return to action soon.
