Khamzat Chimaev is taking UFC 319 very seriously.<\/p>\n
The Chechen standout has always showed up to his fights ready to kill, but historically, making it to the Octagon<\/a> has been a bigger challenge than actually winning once in the cage. Chimaev suffered a serious bout of COVID-19<\/a> that nearly derailed his career in 2020, and since then, there have been numerous complications<\/a> and incidents<\/a>. Most recently, Chimaev was sent to the hospital<\/a> just days before he was supposed to face Robert Whittaker at UFC Saudi Arabia, though \u201cBorz\u201d was successful when the match up did finally materialize.<\/p>\n Many have suggested that Chimaev trains too hard and too often<\/a>, leaving his body and immune system vulnerable to illness. Ahead of the biggest fight of his life versus Dricus Du Plessis, Chimaev has adapted in several ways to hopefully avoid health issues<\/a>. For example, Khamzat has relocated to Southern California for half his fight camp and is working with one of the more well-known conditioning coaches in the sport, Sam Calavitta, who is reportedly monitoring his recovery closely to avoid overtraining.<\/p>\n It goes deeper than that, however. In a recent ESPN<\/a> interview, Chimaev revealed that he\u2019s purposefully avoiding the general public and staying in whenever possible. He\u2019s too wary of getting sick and being exposed to germs to interact with fans, even if that\u2019s something he generally enjoys. Per his team, \u201cBorz\u201d hardly leaves his house at all aside from training.<\/p>\n