The full picture of Khamzat Chimaev’s weight cut for UFC 328 is now public, and it is significantly more alarming than the speculation suggested in the days leading up to the fight.
Chimaev’s brother, Artur, spoke to sports.ru after the loss to Sean Strickland, confirming that Chimaev had been preparing for a light-heavyweight fight against Jiri Prochazka, with a contract already in place, before the UFC asked him to defend the middleweight title instead. The consequences of that switch on his body were severe.
“There was a problem with the weight cut. The question became whether to cancel the fight or take the risk. When there was 2.7 pounds left, his body shut down. Oxygen deprivation. His body malfunctioned. We had to stop for an hour because his health wouldn’t allow him to continue. Khamzat himself said he didn’t know how he’d fight in that condition. There was an agreement with the UFC that he would fight Jiri Prochazka at 205. The contract was already prepared, but then they asked him to fight Sean instead. So he accepted and decided to cut from 231 pounds down to 185 pounds. By fight time he had only regained around 11-13 pounds. Two weeks before the fight he weighed 214 pounds.”
Arman Tsarukyan, who was in Chimaev’s corner, had previously estimated the cut at around 46 pounds. Artur’s account confirms the scale of the problem and adds the detail that Chimaev’s body effectively shut down during the final stages of the cut before he chose to push through and compete.
Artur also confirmed that Chimaev has formally requested an immediate rematch despite initially telling Dana White he wants to move to light heavyweight.
“We’ve requested a rematch with Strickland. There’s an event in Abu Dhabi in October and we want to do it there. Khamzat isn’t the type of person to move to another weight class and leave unanswered questions behind. We want the second fight. Right now we have no other goals.”
ESPN has separately reported that Chimaev is obsessed with getting the rematch and will not accept other fights in the interim. The UFC has not confirmed whether an immediate rematch will be made or whether they will instead book Strickland against Nassourdine Imavov, the contender Strickland himself identified as a likely next opponent.