Khamzat Chimaev’s team doesn’t think he was at his best at UFC 328.
The previously undefeated Chimaev suffered a split decision loss to Sean Strickland in Saturday’s main event, dropping the UFC middleweight title in his first defense. After a dominant first round, Chimaev was noticeably sluggish at points during the fight, allowing Strickland to control the pace of the action and eventually emerge with the win.
Well before fight night, there were rumors Chimaev had a particularly difficult cut down to 185 pounds and looked noticeably uncomfortable on the scale at the official morning weigh-ins. Immediately after the conclusion of the main event, UFC commentator Joe Rogan speculated that Chimaev had expected to move up to light heavyweight before getting the call to defend his title against Strickland, which may have contributed to his weigh-in woes.
In an interview with sports.ru, Chimaev’s brother Artur corroborated Rogan’s theory.
“There was a problem with the weight cut,” Artur said (translation via Championship Rounds). “The question became whether to cancel the fight or take the risk. When there was [2.7 pounds] left, his body shut down… Oxygen deprivation. His body malfunctioned. We had to stop for an hour because his health wouldn’t allow him to continue… Khamzat himself said he didn’t know how he;d fight in that condition.
“There was an agreement with the UFC that he would fight Jiri Prochazka at 205. The contract was already prepared, but then they asked him to fight Sean instead… so he accepted and decided to cut from [231 pounds] down to [185 pounds]. By fight time he had only regained around [11-13 pounds]… Two weeks before the fight he weighed [214 pounds].”
Lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan, who helped prepare Chimaev for the Strickland fight, recently claimed Chimaev had to cut around 46 pounds to make championship weight. Chimaev’s weight has long been a topic of discussion as he spent a portion of his UFC career competing at 170 pounds, a path that was closed to him when he had an egregious weight miss of over seven pounds for UFC 279 in 2022 that forced the promotion to reshuffle the top three fights on the card.
Chimaev appears destined to move up to light heavyweight now, with UFC CEO Dana White saying that’s what Chimaev told him is the plan following the loss to Strickland; however, Chimaev released a statement on social media, telling Strickland “see you again soon,” leaving the door open for a potential rematch. According to Artur, that’s what his brother wants.
“We’ve requested a rematch with Strickland,” Artur said. “There’s an event in Abu Dhabi in October and we want to do it there.
“Khamzat isn’t the type of person to move to another weight class and leave unanswered questions behind. We want the second fight. Right now we have no other goals.”
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