UFC welterweight star Khamzat Chimaev is heading to Las Vegas alongside teammate Alexander Gustafsson ahead of their returns to the Octagon.
Chimaev hasn’t fought since last September when he knocked out Gerald Meeerschaert in 17 seconds due to health issues stemming from a severe case of COVID-19. The coronavirus was so hard on Chimaev’s body that he even temporarily announced his retirement from mixed martial arts. However, he was able to get healthy and he decided to re-commit to the sport and announced that he will be returning to “smash” his foes.
Ahead of Chimaev’s return to the Octagon, the Swede is traveling to Las Vegas alongside Gustafsson, his teammate at Sweden’s Allstars Training Center, who also recently announced that he will be returning to the cage after a year away. Chimaev’s coach Andreas Michael confirmed the plans with Frontkick.Online, while also noting that UFC featherweight prospect Guram Kutateladze is also making the trek to the United States.
“It feels good to have him back. We feel really good. We’re going to the US on Friday. It will be a long camp there, with Alex, Khamzat, and Guram. We will train in Vegas, go around to a few different places. Xtreme Coutoure, Robert Drysdale’s Club, the UFC’s Performance Institute, and elsewhere. We go where we are welcome,” the coach said.
Chimaev was quickly emerging as one of the UFC’s biggest and brightest young stars before he ran into health issues. The hope is that, now that he’s healthy again, he can immediately jump back into a top-10 fight, and his team still wants to fight Neil Magny.
“I hope so. It’s a good fight and the one we want. Whatever we plan, it’s up to Khamzat. He might get in shape and say he wants a fight next week. Then only God knows how many times he fights this year,” Chimaev’s manager Majdi Shammas said.
