Third UFC welterweight Khamzat Chimaev claims he wanted to continue to make weight before the UFC 279 , but doctors wouldn’t let him.
“Something was wrong with my body. I wanted to keep doing the right weight, but someone called the doctors and they stopped everything. So there was nothing I could do. I told them I could get the weight off, just wait. It was 4:00 in the morning, so I had plenty of time left. But they wouldn’t let me.
Diaz was already afraid of me. I said I’d give him my whole fee if he fought. He didn’t agree to that.
I took that fight on short notice. We were supposed to fight in October, so I was hauling iron, gaining mass. I don’t know what went wrong. We’ll see,” Chimaev told ESPN MMA.
Khamzat Chimaev, however, was subsequently dropped to the co-main event. He will now face Kevin Holland in a 180-pound catchweight bout.
According to a tweet by Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, No.3-ranked UFC welterweight Khamzat Chimaev will not be receiving a monetary penalty despite weighing in 7.5 pounds above the welterweight limit for his UFC 279 main event.
Chimaev’s original opponent for the event, Nate Diaz, will now be taking on former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson as part of the main event for UFC 279.
Weight-related issues have also affected a few other fights on the card besides the main event.
Dana White explains why Khamzat Chimaev missed weight for his UFC 279 fight
Khamzat Chimaev seems to have legitimate reasons behind not making weight for UFC 279. In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, in the wake of a massive shuffle of the upcoming UFC card, Dana White explained why ‘Borz’ was unable to make weight.
The UFC president revealed that health issues related to a bad weight cut were what ultimately rendered the surging welterweight contender unable to complete his weight cut. White added that doctors advised Chimaev not to cut weight:
“He started locking up and cramping. All the things… that are from a bad cut… They called in, we sent a doctor and the doctor determines whether he should keep cutting weight or not and the doctor told him he shouldn’t.”