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On Friday, the UFC's rising star, Khamzat Chimaev, stepped on the scales in a big way, smiling and looking very relaxed. It was one of the main reasons why people (rightly) thought it was a planned move by the UFC because they were heavily criticized for the pairing of Chimaev and Diaz.
The story goes that the UFC put fighters from two categories on the same 'card' and when paired with each other they can give matches that the audience wants, and that happened because they paired Diaz with Ferguson, Chimaev with Holland and Jingliang with Rodriguez.
In his Instagram address, Dana White said that they did not put together such a 'card' by accident, and the public immediately concluded that everything was set up, including the conflict between Holland and Chimaev in the 'backstage'
However, Khamzat Chimaeva's trainer Andreas Michael was a guest on 'The MMA Hour' with Ariel Helwani last night, where he explained the whole situation. “His whole career he’s been fighting at welterweight,” Michael said.
“He’s missed weight this time, but it’s not as if he’s been missing weight all the time. Of course, he’s been having a hard time making weight, but he’s always made weight. The point of the thing is that we’re going to make it easier and fight at middleweight some of the fights, but we’re game for welterweight as well.
“We’re not going to lose our ranking there, hopefully, because we’re so close to a title fight there. Once we take the belt there, we’re going to pursue the middleweight division with all our hearts.
Right now, some fights are going to be at middleweight, some are going to be at middleweight, worthwhile fights. But that’s up to the UFC, of course, that’s not up to us”.
Coach Details What Led To Khamzat Chimaev’s Weight Miss
“He was getting muscle spasms, shaking,” Michael said.
“Vomiting. When he stood up he was passing out. I was worried about him. Ever since he got coronavirus and all these health issues, he’s had a little bit of a hard time making the weight,” Michael added. “I told [Chimaev], ‘F*** this, your health is number one,’” Michael said.
“That’s why we called the physician. We were thinking, ‘Forget about the fight. Is he alright?’ Cutting weight is very dangerous for the body if you push too hard, and I just wanted him to be OK. “I thought to myself, ‘OK, if this means that I’m going to risk his health, then I’ve got to make an executive decision and I’ve got to be a leader and do what’s best for him.’ I talked to the doctor, and I asked him, ‘What do you think?’ The doctor told me, ‘Listen, I don’t advise that you continue cutting weight.’” v
