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UFC superstar Khamzat Chimaev’s head coach Andreas Michael issued a decisive response to color commentator Joe Rogan.
Chimaev is coming off a dominant win over former rival Kevin Holland in the co-main event of UFC 279 this past Saturday. “Borz” came out firing from the opening second and made quick work of Holland, securing a first-round finish by submission. He also managed to get the job done without taking a single significant strike, a feat he achieved for the fourth time under the banner.
He was initially set to headline the card opposite Nate Diaz but needed to be shuffled after coming in seven and a half pounds over the agreed nontitle fight weight limit of 171 pounds.
During the post-fight octagon interview, Rogan probed Chimaev about the massive weight miss. He asked Chimaev to provide reassurance that he would be able to make the welterweight limit if he got a title shot.
Chimaev’s Coach Dismisses Rogan’s Concerns
In an interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN, coach Michael of Allstars Training Center gave his take on the matter. While some like former two-division champion Daniel Cormier praised Rogan for pressing “Borz” to explain his reasons, coach Michael dismissed his concerns about Chimaev’s weight.
“Joe Rogan asked a question about what if it was a title fight,” coach Michael said. “It wasn’t. It wasn’t a title fight. In a title fight, we are not going to take on such a short notice. In a title fight, we would make sure that he would have enough time. We would make sure he had enough time if we accept the title fight. We are not going to take a title fight in six or seven weeks’ notice. That’s not good enough.”
Coach Michael Says Diaz Would Not Have Waited
Diaz became a free agent after he completed the final bout on his contract with the UFC against Tony Ferguson. Coach Michael argued that Diaz would not have waited for Chimaev to be ready and they needed to act quickly.
“If we know that we have a problem with the weight, then everyone’s going to say, ‘why did you take this fight? You didn’t make sure.’ Well, he wanted to fight. He wanted to fight Nate and Nate’s not going to wait for us,” he added. “That’s the difference. A title fight will wait. But Nate’s, this last fight, we had both our feet in one shoe there. We had to take this fight to make it happen. If you want to fight Nate, you better fight him when they tell you to fight him.
“A title fight, we can always push it a little bit further up because a champ is a champ. He’s not going to stop. Whoever holds the title will fight him but this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”
He revealed that the promotion encouraged them to accept the offer as a win over Diaz would skyrocket Chimaev’s celebrity.
“The UFC had told us we better take the fight because you are not going to get a chance like this again.”
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Joe Rogan’s UFC 279 Concerns Dismissed by Khamzat Chimaev’s Coach