Khamzat Chimaev | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCKhamzat Chimaev appeared to announce his retirement from MMA three weeks after lingering COVID-19 symptoms forced him to withdraw from UFC Vegas 21. But UFC President Dana White said the rising UFC welterweight star is actually readying for a June comeback. Chimaev wrote on Instagram (translated from Russian), “Thank you all so much for supporting me in my journey in this sport. I think I’m done.” He added that while he didn’t win a title, “it’s not the most important victory in this life.” “It may upset you, but my heart and body tell me everything,” he wrote. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Khamzat Chimaev (@khamzat_chimaev) Later, Chimaev posted a picture on his Instagram story that showed a spray of what appeared to be blood in a sink. “The main thing is I do not know what this disease is but it is not easily outlived,” he wrote in a message translated on Reddit. Multiple messages to Chimaev’s management and the UFC weren’t immediately returned. But White subsequently told MMA Junkie that he’d spoken to the fighter and clarified his plans. The UFC recently flew Chimaev to its home city of Las Vegas for treatment, and White said the fallout of his recovery motivated the apparent retirement post. “When he got here, the doctors took care of him, and they put him on prednisone, which is a nasty f*cking steroid,” White said. “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.” According to his reps, Chimaev has been hospitalized multiple times after being stricken with multiple health issues, receiving antibiotics for bronchitis. In a behind-the-scenes video, his manager, Majdi Shammas, said the fighter started coughing after two rounds of work in preparation for the March 13 fight in Las Vegas. He was later taken to a local hospital; Shammas said the fighter later told him he thought he was going to die. Announcing Chimaev’s scratch, White said the 26-year-old star was suffering from an issue with his lungs. It was the third time the bout had been cancelled after a COVID-19 positive nixed Edwards from a UFC Vegas 17 booking and complications from the virus ruled Chimaev out of UFC Vegas 19. “He was flown out here so that we could take care of him,” White said. “We get him taken care of. They got him on medication. He’s going to be fine, and he goes in and starts f*cking training. He’s not supposed to be training, and he’s super frustrated. “He’s training when he’s supposed to be resting. He’s got to stay off, at least while he’s on this medication.” Chimaev, a product of Allstars Training Center in Stockholm, rocketed to UFC fame on Fight Island, where he rattled off back-to-back stoppage wins at welterweight and middleweight in a span of 10 days. He followed that up two months later with a shocking one-punch knockout of Gerald Meerschaert that had him on the short list as a future title challenger. The fight against Edwards, a welterweight standout on an eight-fight winning streak, appeared to be the gateway to contention for a fighter who captivated the attention of fans around the world. Chimaev’s health issues underscore a sudden reversal of fortune and the seriousness of the virus, which has claimed over 2.5 million lives and left many “long haulers” with debilitating symptoms that leave them unable to resume normal life. Here is Chimaev’s complete statement: “I want to say thank you all so much for supporting me in my journey in this sport. I thinki I’m done, yes I know I didn’t take the belt but it’s not the most important victory in his life, it may upset you but my heart and body tell me everything. I want to say a big thank you to my team [Allstars Training Center]. I want to say a big thank you to UFC.”

Matt Brown will look to rebound in the 170-pound division when he takes on Dhiego Lima. | Esther Lin, MMA FightingMatt Brown will fight Dhiego Lima at a yet-to-be-announced UFC Fight Night event on June 19, multiple people with knowledge of the booking told MMA Fighting on Monday. The UFC has yet to officially unveil the event’s location and its broadcasting details. “The Immortal” (22-18) will attempt to rebound from consecutive defeats to Miguel Baeza and Carlos Condit, snapping a two-fight finishing streak over Ben Saunders and Diego Sanchez. Brown recently responded to a callout from one-time UFC welterweight title challenger Dan Hardy, but the bout apparently failed to materialize. Hardy has been inactive since the diagnosis of a potentially serious heart condition that cancelled a bout with Brown at UFC on FOX 7 in 2013. Lima (15-8), a former Titan FC welterweight champion and two-time The Ultimate Fighter finalist, won three in a row in bouts against Chad Laprise, Court McGee and Luke Jumeau before losing a unanimous decision to Belal Muhammad in February.

Esther Lin, MMA FightingWatch Amanda Nunes vs. Ronda Rousey full fight video to see Nunes leave no question that she was the best in the world at 135 pounds by beating Rousey at UFC 207 on Dec. 30, 2016, in Las Vegas. Nunes’ first title defense was the beginning of the end for Rousey’s run in MMA. “The Lioness” was on a tear in the bantamweight division, having won four straight fights and taken the UFC title from Miesha Tate via first-round submission after a dominant performance. On the other side of the cage was Rousey, coming off of a 13-month hiatus following a devastating loss to Holly Holm. Rousey was a force of nature during her time as champion and was looking to reclaim that status. Shortly after the bell rang, it was clear that Nunes was the superior fighter as she blitzed Rousey and finished with strikes just 48 seconds into the fight. Nunes would go on to successfully defend the bantamweight title four more times and currently also holds the UFC’s featherweight title. To date, this was Rousey’s last fight, as she would go on to other entertainment ventures including a highly successful run in professional wrestling with the WWE. Up next for Nunes is a defense of her featherweight championship as she takes on Megan Anderson in the co-main event of UFC 259 on March 6 in Las Vegas.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLCJiri Prochazka has had a lot of great first rounds in MMA – fifteen of them, according to the wins on his professional record. His first UFC fight was not one. In the octagon for the first time in a fight against one-time title challenger Volkan Oezdemir, Prochazka felt exactly the opposite of how he wanted to feel: light, fast and powerful. All three judges agreed Oezdemir was the winner of the opening frame. “The performance from the first round was horrible,” Prochazka told What the Heck. “That was a lot of new setups that I tried in the first round, and it didn’t work like how I wanted. “The second round was better, because I needed to change out my old style, and I had time to connect that style from the first and second round to make something that worked.” Adjusting to the octagon is not a new thing for MMA exports. In Prochazka’s case, it didn’t help that he was fighting one of the most aggressive starters in the light heavyweight division. Now that Prochazka is in queue for a return fight against one-time title challenger Dominick Reyes, whom he faces on May 1 at an upcoming Fight Night event, one of his goals is to show up in the first round the way he did for Oezdemir in the second. “That’s one thing I want in the fight,” Prochazka said. “I just am working on my style, and I think it will work in the fight.” Reyes might share the same aspiration. In his previous fight, a bout for the title left vacant by dominant light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, Reyes was stopped in the second round by the current champ Jan Blachowicz. In his prior bout with Jones, he had a strong showing in early rounds before fading somewhat in championship territory. Media scores were 2-1 in favor of Reyes, but judges saw it unanimously for Jones. Prochazka is of the opinion that Reyes needed to do more to take the decision. “Did he beat Jones? Maybe, yeah,” he said. “His performance was better than Jon Jones, but Jon Jones was the champion, and if you want to beat the champion, you have to knock him out. That’s the problem, not leave it to the judges, especially with Jon Jones – he’s the master of the points.” A subsequent loss damaged Reyes’ stock in the eyes of many fans, but Prochazka thinks his upcoming opponent is still one of the best 205-pound fighters in the octagon. “I think the fight with Jon Jones was incredible from him,” he said. “I take him like a champion, like one of the best guys in our division. In my meeting, there’s nothing bad about Dominick.” A win over a one-time title challenger would certainly put the Czech fighter on the short list for his own title opportunity. The faster he moves, the smaller the margins for error will be. Slow starts won’t be forgiven as easily. Prochazka would certainly like to get back in the cage sooner than later. But more time gives him more preparation to fix the mistakes from his first outing. “I want to get the title, too, but I want to enjoy every opponent before me,” he said. “I want to prepare for every opponent precisely.”

Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesOne online oddsmaker still favors UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in her next title defense, but not by the margins of previous bouts. Opening lines for Shevchenko’s fight with Jessica Andrade, which takes place April 24 at UFC 261, currently have the dominant flyweight as a -335 favorite. The former strawweight champion is the +275 underdog. A $100 bet on Shevchenko would return $29.85 in profit, while the same bet for Andrade would return $275. Shevchenko initially opened as a -350 favorite, which indicates money already wagered on the challenger. One of the most dominant forces in the sport, Shevchenko has defended her title four times, most recently outpointing Jennifer Maia. Although Maia was able to control her in the second round and win that frame, Shevchenko quickly took over and won by a wide margin. Prior to the fight, Shevchenko was a massive favorite to win, coming in as high as -2000 in betting lines. Andrade’s history and reputation may explain her relatively good odds compared to other opponents. Known as one of the more aggressive fighters in women’s MMA, she owns knockout wins over several opponents, including strawweights Karolina Kowalkiewicz and ex-champ Rose Namajunas. Initially fighting in the bantamweight division, she moved down to 115 pounds before moving up to flyweight this past October. In her promotional debut at 125 pounds, she stopped Katlyn Chookagian with a vicious body shot. In a previous interview with MMA Fighting, Andrade was optimistic about her chances against Shevchenko. “I think I can put up a fight against Valentina,” Andrade said via a Portuguese translator at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “It’s something that should have happened already in other organizations so I think I’m gonna make a difference in this and put on shows in this division.”