Khamzat Chimaev opens up on illness that pulled him from first Robert Whittaker booking

Khamzat Chimaev was described as "violently ill" before having to withdraw against Robert Whittaker in June.

Now Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) has been rebooked against Whittaker (27-7 MMA, 17-5 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 308 (pay-per-view, ESPN+) co-main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Chimaev was scheduled to face Whittaker at UFC on ABC 6 in Riyadh, but was forced out due to illness which hospitalized him. Whittaker faced Ikram Aliskerov instead, knocking him out in Round 1. Chimaev opened up on what happened to him ahead of his rescheduled matchup vs. Whittaker.

"We were in training camp. The first month was very good," Chimaev said on UFC Countdown. "The last three weeks, my immunity goes down. I don't know what happened. All the guys ate the same food, (but) only (I) got sick.

"I was in the hospital for a couple of days. I came out and started to train again and the same sh*t happened again. The doctor said to me, 'You need to just be off from the gym and not just training, not doing nothing.' I went home to the mountains."

Undefeated Chimaev hasn't competed since edging out former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman last October at UFC 294. His fight vs. Whittaker is being dubbed as a No. 1 contender bout.

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Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev: Odds and what to know ahead of UFC 308 fight

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 308.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Khamzat Chimaev opens up on illness that pulled him from first Robert Whittaker booking