A former two-time UFC bantamweight champion has given more details about how brutal and horrifying Khamzat Chimaev’s weight cut was before the Sean Strickland fight.
Chimaev lost his middleweight title to Strickland earlier this month in the main event of UFC 328 by split decision. After the loss, the Chechen-born Emirati’s team and close friends revealed that on the last day, “Borz” had to cut nearly 14 pounds.
Although Chimaev dropped the first 9 pounds easily, dropping the last 4 to make 185 pounds was a nightmare, and according to Arman Tsarukyan, “Borz” didn’t want to finish the cut.
T.J. Dillashaw says Khamzat Chimaev was “almost dying” before the UFC 328 official weigh-ins
T.J. Dillashaw, in an interview with MMA Fighting, has revealed that Khamzat Chimaev didn’t want to make the weight for UFC 328 and was ready to pay Sean Strickland $1 million. Dillashaw blamed Chimaev’s nutritionist and team, claiming they failed to handle the final stages of the weight cut properly. He said:
“I introduced him [Khamzat Chimaev] to Calavitta, and Sam Calavitta is the best in the business. You can say whatever you want about it, what he does that people don’t do, he’s so smart, and the amount of work that he puts into a camp is insane. Like everything, the way you’re recovering, the supplements you’re taking, the minerals you’re missing in your body from blood work, hair samples, what your hormone levels are doing, like everything. [If] you want to reach that peak performance. He’s the guy to go with. And then, unfortunately, they had trusted someone else to do some of his nutrition and weight cut towards the end, and it just ruined it all.”
“I saw him sitting in the bathtub to cut weight. It was like, Sam wouldn’t have him sitting in the bathtub to cut weight. … And then to hear the story of what actually was happening to him and him puking up green bile and just all the like crazy sh*t. He should not have made it to the fight… How tough Khamzat is to do as well as he did on almost dying before getting on that scale. Like I’m saying, almost dying, like scary stories.” [h/t: MMA Fighting]
T.J. Dillashaw added:
“He wanted to give Strickland $1 million and say, ‘Hey, take it. I can’t make it, I’m going to die.’ And you forget this guy’s got half a thyroid, right? His metabolism is half of a normal man. And so if you’re not treating it the right way, you could kill him. And I really believe he was on the verge of death making that weight cut.” [h/t: MMA Fighting]
During the same interview, the 40-year-old claimed that, in his opinion, “Borz” did enough to win at UFC 328 but was “robbed.” Dillashaw thinks this is why Sean Strickland is not ready to run it back with Chimaev.
“I thought he won at least three rounds with the fourth round even being close. It was not a robbery… I’ve said that multiple times. It was a close fight due to Khamzat’s underperformance – massive underperformance. And that’s why Sean doesn’t want to fight him again.” [h/t: MMA Fighting]
Despite the brutal weight cut and everything that went wrong with Khamzat Chimaev’s health before the fight, Dillashaw believes “Borz” still looked like the fighter with the better cardio.
He opined that Khamzat Chimaev needs the right guidance, a much more professional weight-cut process, and proper water management when trying to shed. Lastly, Dillashaw added that he wants Chimaev to reclaim the middleweight title before even thinking about moving up to the UFC light heavyweight division.
Check out the full interview and T.J. Dillashaw’s comments about Khamzat Chimaev below:
