Chimaev spoke about his health problems ahead of his fight against Whittaker

"Immune failure. Immune system's really down. Wanted to rest for a week. Rested, but didn't recover. Went to the hospital with a bad headache. They said it was stress, something they explained to me. I was in hospital for two days, then home for a week. Started training - three days later I went to the hospital again. They said I needed three weeks' rest. If you take three weeks off, it'll be just in time for the fight against Whittaker. I had vomiting, headaches, immunity was very weak - I couldn't do anything. That's why I decided with the team to give up.