Tsarukyan claims Khamzat
Chimaev made weight for UFC
328.
Chimaev lost his middleweight title to Sean
Strickland via split decision at UFC 328 earlier this month. It
is no secret that Chimaev had a terrible weight cut, which also
likely affected his performance.
Chimaev looked visibly drained during the official weigh-ins, which
did not go down without controversy. Chimaev was only on the scale
for a few moments before the official called 185 pounds. Fans and
pundits noticed that the scale hadn’t even settled before Chimaev
stepped down. Strickland, Bryce
Mitchell, Bobby Green and others have accused Chimaev of
failing to make weight.
Nothing Amiss
However, Chimaev’s close friend, Tsarukyan, claims “Borz” couldn’t
possibly have missed weight at the official weigh-ins. According to
Tsarukyan, the
UFC confirms a fighter’s weight on an automatic scale backstage
before letting them proceed to the official manual scale.
“He made weight,” Tsarukyan said on the “Jaxxon Podcast” “Because, before the official
weigh-ins, you go to one more weigh-in. The UFC checks your weight,
and if you’re good there, they let you go. If there is 186 on the
automatic scale, you cannot go to the official one.”
Chimaev (15-1) has had weight-cutting issues in the past as well,
even leading to the reshuffling of the entire UFC 279 card in 2022.
While Dana White claimed that Chimaev wants to move up to light
heavyweight after UFC 328, the former middleweight champ has since
expressed interest in avenging his loss against
Strickland.