Arguably the biggest breakout fighter of 2020, Khamzat Chimaev seemingly announced his retirement to Instagram last night.

Khamzat has not yet given an explicit reason for announcing his departure from the sport. However, many people suspect that his recent bout with Covid-19 is the driving force behind this decision.

Just yesterday, Chimaev posted an Instagram story of a bloody sink with the caption “take yourself and your family this is the most important thing, I don’t know what kind of illness it is, but it’s not easy to get through”. It is speculated that Chimaev is dealing with lasting and noxious side effects from the coronavirus. Covid-19 is known to inflict lasting damage on the lungs of those it infects, and sadly, it appears that Chimaev is grappling with this reality.

UFC fans and fighters alike are hopeful that Khamzat will be back in the octagon someday. The #14 ranked UFC welterweight, Chimaev was well on his way to becoming a UFC mainstay. With an undefeated record of 9-0 after winning 3 fights in the first half of 2020, Chimaev was slated to fight #3 ranked Leon Edwards before the coronavirus forced him to pull out of the fight. Apparently it was worse than everyone initially thought; just watch this video of Chimaev’s trainers speaking about his health.

Get well soon Khamzat. Hopefully we will see you smesh people again someday soon.