Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards’ welterweight contender fight has been cancelled once again, possibly for the final time. Edwards initially contracted Covid in the buildup to their original fight date in December, leading to a rebook for January. However, this time Khamzat was the unfortunate victim of the pandemic, forcing yet another rebook, this time for March.
Long Covid Effects on Khamzat
As of Friday 11th of February, reports have revealed that the fight has once again been cancelled, due to Khamzat not recovering fully from Covid. A video posted by Frontkick Online’s Youtube channel has revealed new details on how Khamzat Chimaev was effected. The video initially states the following:
“The Corona Virus has taken a toll on Chimaev, with numerous complications and several visits to the hospital.”
The video goes on to show Khamzat’s manager, Majdi Shammas, who detailed the harrowing experience his fighter has to go through:
“He wanted to train. We tried, and it failed, he was really bad. He didn’t even do two rounds straight, he did one round and then rested. He started coughing, started feeling ill again, and we had to cancel the training, he even went in an ambulance to the hospital.”
Shammas also added that Khamzat felt so bad, “when he called me, he thought he was going to die.”
Shammas went on to state that Khamzat will be out of action for the foreseeable future while he fully recovers.
“He has to rest a little bit, get his body fully functional. Then he can start training again… Some stuff is not up to him. Sometimes you have to step in and firmly say how it is. I can’t let him train. Who knows? This time, he started training, he got lucky (it wasn’t worse). Next time he might not be this lucky. I’m not gonna take that risk. It doesn’t matter.” (H/T MMA Junkie).
The Future for Khamzat & Edwards
Khamzat was one of the biggest UFC stars of 2020, making history with the fastest turnaround between fights since the days of Royce Gracie. Brutal victories over UFC veterans Gerald Meerschart and John Phillips, as well as dominating performance over former cage warriors star Rhys McGee instantly got the attention of MMA fans, as well as UFC president Dana White. This led to his matchup with Edwards, which White has now confirmed is no longer in the works. Edwards will instead face another welterweight. Colby Covington, Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal have all been touted as potential opponents.
Colby can get this work too. Then the title next. Its strap season#anybodycangetit
— Leon 'Rocky' Edwards (@Leon_edwardsmma) February 13, 2021
