Details of former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev’s brutal weight cut ahead of UFC 328 have been revealed by a teammate.
Chimaev lost his belt when he dropped a close split decision to Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC 328, which took place on May 9 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Following the bout, it came out that Chimaev struggled to get down to the 185 lbs middleweight title limit, and now we have additional details about how tough a weight cut it truly was.
Teammate Reveals Details of Khamzat Chimaev’s Brutal Weight Cut
Chimaev’s teammate, UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan, spoke to the JAXXON Podcast and revealed the details of the monster weight cut Chimaev had to make for UFC 328. According to Tsarukyan, Chimaev struggled badly to get down to 185 lbs, but with the encouragement of his team, he pushed through and made championship weight.
“He had to cut 13 pounds. Last day, he had to cut 12 or 13 pounds. First nine pounds was easy, and then he felt bad during the night, and then he woke up and said to us, ‘I feel so weak and, like, no energy. I don’t know how I’m going to cut this last four pounds.’ But we just pushed him so hard. He didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to finish the cut, but the team, me and the coaches, we tried to push him to make the weight, and he made weight,” Tsarukyan said (via MMAjunkie.com).
It is worth noting that Chimaev was the last fighter on the scale at the UFC 328 official weigh-ins, so it was clear from the start that something was up, but now we know just how hard the weight cut truly was. We also heard from Chimaev’s brother, Artur, who said that his “body shut down” during the weight cut. Now, we know the truth about how difficult the weight cut was.
What’s Next for Khamzat Chimaev?
Following UFC 328, Chimaev told UFC president Dana White that he planned on moving up to 205 lbs, which makes sense given how hard of a weight cut it was for him to make 185 lbs for the Strickland fight.
However, in the days after his title fight with Strickland, Chimaev said that he now wants to stay at 185 lbs and fight Strickland in a rematch. It remains to be seen if the UFC will indeed grant Chimaev that rematch, since White already said that Nassourdine Imavov would be next in line to fight the new champ.
The first fight between Chimaev and Strickland was a good one, and the lead-up to the fight was especially memorable, too, including Chimaev kicking Strickland at the pre-fight press conference. A lot of times, when a fight is hyped up so much beforehand, it doesn’t live up to the expectations. But in this case, it was a very exciting bout, and one that came down to the wire, with Strickland winning the fifth and final round on two judges’ scorecards to win a split decision.
Details of Khamzat Chimaev’s Brutal Weight Cut at UFC 328 Revealed