Dana White has pushed back firmly against theories that Khamzat Chimaev did not legitimately make the 185-pound middleweight limit for UFC 328, while Sean Strickland is equally firm in the opposite direction.
The controversy arose after a video of Chimaev’s weigh-in showed the needle on the manual scale still moving as it was read at exactly 185 pounds, prompting speculation online that he had not fully made weight. Strickland added fuel to the fire during the ceremonial weigh-ins when he flatly accused Chimaev of cheating the scale.
Speaking after UFC 328, White had little patience for the narrative.
“You know the New Jersey State Athletic Commission oversees the weigh-ins, right? Jeremy Stephens missed weight by four pounds and they had to cut a deal. But for Khamzat they’re just going to let him not make weight? Jersey and New York are two of the toughest commissions in the country. The internet is f***ing stupid, I don’t know what to tell you other than that. Listen, Monday morning at 9.02 call the New Jersey Athletic Commission and ask them about that. I have nothing to do with any of that stuff.”
Strickland was not moved by his boss’s defense of the official result when White’s comments were relayed to him.
“Show of hands, who thinks he missed weight? His scale was going ‘ding ding ding ding ding’. He 1,000 per cent missed weight.”
The controversy does not affect the result of the fight itself. Strickland won a split decision to claim the middleweight title for the second time and is now preparing for the first defense of his new reign.