Khamzat Chimaev is less than 24 hours away from facing off with Sean Strickland at UFC 328, yet he may have already won his toughest battle.
You wouldn’t expect a former Welterweight to have a difficult cut to 185 pounds, but it’s no secret “Borz” looked a bit shaky at the scale on Friday. There’s also a bit of controversy about his weigh-in itself, as there’s speculation that Chimaev didn’t actually make weight, as the commission was quick to grant him the 185-pound weight. Chimaev has put on a lot
of weight since his days at Welterweight, likely in anticipation of a 205-pound or Heavyweight move.
Chimaev hasn’t looked that rough on weigh-in day since he missed weight in his scrapped bout versus Nate Diaz.
Ahead of the weight cut, Khamzat’s friend and training partner Arman Tsarukyan revealed some shocking numbers. Per the top-ranked Lightweight contender, Khamzat cut roughly 21 kilograms or 46 pounds to make the Middleweight limit — that’s more than Paulo Costa in his 185-pound heyday!
“He cuts a lot of weight,” Tsarukyan admitted. “It’s not easy for anyone, even if you’re cutting three kilograms. Khamzat is cutting almost 21 kilograms this time. 21 kilograms is a big number.”
Why such a drastic cut? There are rumors that Khamzat was supposed to go up to 205-pounds and fight for the vacant belt right up until Strickland’s stunning victory over Anthony Hernandez (watch here), which changed the plan. Instead of bulking up, Chimaev would suddenly have to switch paths to losing weight.
Regardless of that gossip and Tsarukyan’s 21 kg figure, “Borz” clearly cut a serious amount of water here. Strickland surely intends to test his gas tank late in their five-round fight, and a bad cut could severely affect Chimaev’s ability to compete as fatigue sets in.
