Khamzat Chimaev coughed up his middleweight title in a split decision loss to Sean Strickland atop the UFC 328 event earlier this month in Newark. Shortly after the fight, rumors of a bad weight cut started trickling in, which did not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Chimaev’s career.
Former UFC middleweight champion, Dricus du Plessis, was not impressed.
“I think this whole weight cut excuse is ridiculous,” Du Plessis told Fight Forecast. “I mean, they said he cut 12 pounds in the last 24
hours. Those are rookie numbers. That is not that bad. What matters is that last 24 hours and 12 pounds is not that much. Sometimes I’ve had bad weight cuts, too. Everybody that cuts weight has had that experience where the next day you feel ‘ugh’ and you have a bad cut. One kilogram can make the world of difference in a weight cut. I just think using a weight cut as an excuse when it comes to the fight, even if you did have a bad cut, it’s fine. It’s happened to all of us.”
Du Plessis registered two victories over Strickland and one loss against Chimaev.
“You don’t go out and say, ‘Oh, I lost the fight because of that.’ No. If you want to change weight divisions, change weight divisions,” Du Plessis added. “But blaming a bad weight cut is like saying, ‘I lost the fight because I wasn’t fit.‘ It’s on you. Be more disciplined. Be more disciplined and the weight cut would be easier. When you get to Octagon, there is no excuse. If you went in there with a big injury, you made the decision to fight. If the injury was so severe, don’t take the fight. But even if the injury was the reason for losing, be a man and take your loss like a man. Don’t make any excuses. There are no excuses.”
I guess Du Plessis’ coach didn’t get the memo.
“Stillknocks” has not competed since dropping the title to “Borz” last summer but is expected to make a fight announcement before the end of the month. Du Plessis (23-3) is currently ranked No. 2 at 185 pounds, directly above middleweight “Sniper” Nassourdine Imavov, who is currently unbooked.
