On Saturday, Oct. 26, the UFC will be hosting a pay-per-view event from Abu Dhabi. The card is headlined by a featherweight title fight between reigning champion Ilia Topuria and the challenger Max Holloway. But while most casual fans will be tuning in to watch the main event, there's another fighter on the card we think deserves your attention.
Khamzat Chimaev returns to the Octagon for the first time in over a year when he takes on former champion Robert Whittaker in the co-main event. At one time, Chimaev was considered one of the UFC's biggest prospects. He was on the fast track to a title and, if things had gone right, he might even be UFC champion right now.
But things did not go right for Chimaev.
After breaking the record for the quickest turnaround between UFC wins in the modern era (10 days) everyone was talking title shot. But then things slowed considerably. After defeating Gerald Meerschaert in just 17 seconds he was scheduled to fight Leon Edwards, but health complications from COVID-19 forced him out of the bout. Chimaev battled illness and injuries and even missed weight at UFC 279 so badly that the entire main card was reworked in order to keep him on the card.
- READ MORE: UFC 308: Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway keys to victory
But now Chimaev says he's fully healthy, both in mind and body, and that could be a very dangerous thing.
"Everyone talk about my condition but nobody sees what I done with the guys, you know. So, I always fight. I'm not a guy who is jumping around and trying to save my gas station, you know. So, I go always all in. So, I like to go and finish somebody. I try to finish the guys, if it doesn't work, I'm gonna go the distance. Doesn't matter, man. I'm here to just win my fight," he said at UFC 308 media day.
It will be interesting to see if Chimaev really is any different at UFC 308. Will this "new" fighter be any better than the Chimaev we used to see? Is that even possible? Or has Chimaev's best performances come and gone for good? Hopefully, at least some of these questions will be answered on Saturday night.
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