Dana White reveals he 'saw footage of Khamzat Chimaev on the ground violently ill', with UFC president admitting it is mystery why top star keeps getting sick before fights
- Chimaev was forced to pull out of his match with Robert Whittaker this month
- The undefeated Russian last fought in his victory over Kamaru Usman in October
- UFC president White is unsure when the 30-year-old will return to the ring
UFC president Dana White has admitted that he is unsure when Khamzat Chimaev will return to action.
The undefeated Russian was due to fight former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker on Saturday, but was forced to pull out of the contest due to an illness.
He last fought back in October at UFC 294, when he picked up a majority decision victory over Kamaru Usman.
Chimaev's issues are a mystery to White, who has revealed that he saw footage of the 30-year-old 'on the ground violently ill'.
'The problem is we really don't know (what's wrong),' White told the Jim Rome Show.
Dana White (right) is unsure when Khamzat Chimaev (left) will return to action in the UFC
Chimaev (top) pulled out of a fight with Robert Whittaker which was due to take place on Saturday
'Every time this guy gets close to a fight, I saw video footage of him on the ground violently ill. He was hospitalised again.
'He hadn't trained for three or four days or five days, I don't know exactly what the number was but we could not put him into a fight next weekend.'
Chimaev announced in 2021 that he intended to quit the sport in an Instagram post, as he struggled with the after effects of contracting Covid-19.
He ultimately returned to the ring later that year, but has only had four fights since beating Gerald Meeschaert in September 2020.
'I saw this kid on Fight Island, he wanted to fight the next weekend,' White said. 'I let him fight the next weekend. He looked incredible. He's been on this tear and lately it's been hard to get him into the octagon.
'Every time he gets close to fighting, he gets really sick. I don't know [how long he's going to be out].
'I don't know what to say. It's not like he's over here in this country and we've had doctors here look at him or anything like that. He's sort of out of touch so it's tough to deal with.'
Chimaev took to Instagram on Tuesday in his first public message since pulling out of his fight with Whittaker.
Chimaev holds an impressive 13-0 record, but has not fought since October last year
He wrote: 'We always plan something but Allah has his own plans for us. Alhamdulilah.'
Chimaev's bout with Whittaker was due to take place in Saudi Arabia and could have seen him punch his ticket to a middleweight title shot if he prevailed.
However, he will now have to watch former opponent Ikram Aliskerov face Whittaker in the new main event for the card.
