Khamzat Chimaev appeared to announce his retirement after a long battle with Covid-19 - but UFC president Dana White later insisted he would fight on.
The unbeaten Swede last fought when he recorded a huge one-punch KO win over Gerald Meerschaert.
He was considered one of the company's jewels in the crown after starting off his UFC career with three straight stoppage wins, but his ascendancy of the rankings was halted by Covid-19.
And in a post on Instagram on Monday night, Chimaev appeared to announce he was retiring at the age of 26.
He expressed that he felt his heart and body were both telling him it was time to hang up his gloves.
Chimaev posted: “I want to say thank you all so much for supporting me in my journey in this sport.
"I think I’m done, yes I know I didn’t take the belt but it’s not the most important victory in this life.
"It may upset you but my heart and body tell me everything.
"I want to say a big thank you to my team @allstargymsweden. I want to say a big thank you to @ufc."
But UFC president White later told MMA Junkie: "“When he got here, the doctors took care of him, and they put him on prednisone, which is a nasty f****** steroid.
"So he’s on prednisone, and he’s supposed to be taking this thing and chilling, relaxing, and letting himself recover. He went in and f****** trained today, felt like s***, and got super emotional and posted that.
“He’s not supposed to be training, but you know, this guy’s a savage. He wants to fight like every f****** weekend, and now he can’t even train, so he just got emotional and posted that, but he ain't quitting."
Chimeav tested positive for the virus on December 1 2020 when he was preparing to fight Leon Edwards in what could have been a breakout fight for the 26-year-old.
The fight was rescheduled for January 20, but had to be scrapped again due to Chimaev struggling with lingering effects of the virus.
It was then rescheduled for March 13, but UFC president Dana White was forced to once again postpone the event.
A member of Chimaev's team even claimed the fighter thought he was going to die due to the virus.
Majdi Shammas, Chimaev's manager, said: “He can’t train. His friends called me and said, ‘Hey, Khamzat can’t even speak. His fever is so high, his headache is so much, you know, his muscle pain and everything.’
"Then an ambulance came and got him to the hospital.
"Even when he was in the hospital he called me like, when he called me he thought he was going to die. He was really bad.”
Chimaev was planning to return to the octagon in June, but it now seems he has scrapped those comeback plans entirely.
