During the UFC 279 weigh-ins, Khamzat Chimaev weighed nearly eight pounds above the welterweight limit. This caused the reshuffling of the top three fights of the main card and created questions for the Swedish fighter’s future in the 170-pound weight division.
Middleweight Likely Next for Khamzat Chimaev
Chimaev’s Weight Cut
All-Star MMA’s Andreas Michael was speaking about the whole situation on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour. He retold his experience of supervising Chimaev’s weight cut for the UFC 279 pay-per-view event and how the situation became complicated with his fighter experiencing spasms and cramps. The physician on-site advised them to discontinue the weight cut and Chimaev’s coach followed the doctor’s advice. Michael believes the cut was so difficult because his fighter started his training camp heavy and the UFC moved the date of Chimaev’s fight.
Even though “Borz” tried to keep his opportunity against Nate Diaz alive by offering his purse for the fight, the UFC scrambled to restructure the top of the main card without much time left till the event.
Khamzat Chimaev’s Next Step
On Monday, September 12, Michael told Brett Okamoto that the superstar will most likely move up to 185-pounds, a weight class Chimaev is familiar with, by the end of 2022 for at least one fight. However, when Ariel Helwani asked him which weight class the coach would prefer the superstar to fight in, Michael expressed a preference for his fighter to stay at welterweight due to Chimaev’s body of work in that division.
What weight class do you think Chimaev should fight in and who should he fight next?
