Khamzat Chimaev will challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight belt on August 16 at UFC 319, but if Caio Borralho is to be believed, ‘Borz’ might retire if he becomes the champion. “Some whispers about that… I don’t know if I believe it or not, but it’s an option,” the Brazilian fighter said a day ago, and while such a thought might be shocking, there seem to be some good reasons. Borralho stated that Chimaev is experiencing a lot of “pressure from his country,” plus the fact that he has a history of health issues, which prevented him from competing before.

‘Borz’, 31, fought eight times in the UFC and had his fights cancelled on six different occasions. Four of these cancellations came because of his medical issues. The latest cancellation was at UFC Riyadh, when Chimaev had to be hospitalized just a couple of days before the bout against Robert Whittaker. But since the fighter has amassed a respectable amount of money, retirement wouldn’t really hurt him financially at this point in time.

Now, Chael Sonnen weighed in on this topic in his YouTube video. “I’m being told, I’m hearing… that if he wins, he’ll take the belt and go home. And it’s not completely unfathomable. Like, there are guys, Khabib and his entire team, for example, that are not fighting for the fame or money. They, genuinely in their hearts, don’t care about the frame or the money. And Chimaev comes from that same walk. So, when Caio says there’s a rumor that he might not fight, okay, great.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team’s example is an apt one. But what if Du Plessis manages to defeat ‘Borz’ at UFC 319? According to Sonnen, the path to retirement is unavoidable for Chimaev if the reasons listed by Borralho turn out to be true. ‘The American Gangster’ highlighted Chimaev’s mindset, claiming that being a champion is very important to the Chechen star. “Being champion is so important to you that if you get the belt, you’re done. Mission accomplished. There’s nothing else to do. If that’s your mindset… it seems like your mindset would also be the other side of the coin, which is ‘I’m not going back to the bottom of the deck’.

“Look at what I went through, two different weight classes, a respiratory issue, travel issues allegedly. All these years, all these all these fights, a broken hand [torn ligament]. Look at everything that I went through. If I can’t capture the belt now, I’m not going to be one of these people that fails to realize as human beings, we don’t get better with time. Sadly, we only get worse. So, if the rumor is true that Chimaev plans to retire with a victory, which very much surprised me, but I’ll just tell you, if that’s true, if that is his mindset, then I’m confident in telling you, that he’d certainly retire without a victory,” Sonnen said in the YouTube video.

This isn’t the first time rumors about Chimaev’s retirement have run through the internet. Back when he was forced to cancel three back-to-back fights against Leon Edwards, Khamzat Chimaev hinted at his retirement. And now, MMA referee John McCarthy has pointed out why.

Former referee talked about Khamzat Chimaev’s health issues months ago…

Khamzat Chimaev announced his apparent retirement three weeks after he pulled out from UFC Vegas 21 in 2021. He wrote, “Thank you all so much for supporting me in my journey in this sport. I think I’m done. It’s not the most important victory in this life. It may upset you, but my heart and body tell me everything.” Thankfully, Dana White intervened and convinced him to return to fighting. But Chimaev’s troubles after battling the virus were pretty clear.

On episode #656 of the Weighing In podcast in April, ‘Big’ John McCarthy said, “I have seen him never get past the second round but I have seen him in the UFC and it’s not his fault.” He claimed that the complications post-infections forced him to opt for retirement. “And you know he has had issues with the ability to maintain a cardiovascular base, he tends to just burn out. He burns out. And he can’t get it back,” McCarthy said.

After battling Coronavirus, Chimaev fought Li Jiangliang and defeated him in the first round through a rear-naked choke. His battles against Kevin Holland and ‘The Reaper’ also ended in the first round. But when he fought Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman, ‘Borz’ had to go on for the entirety of 15 minutes, and visibly looked human. Now, the question is: Can he manage to go on for all five rounds against the South African champion?