If Khamzat Chimaev is fixing his issues outside of the cage to ensure a successful cut down to 170 pounds then the undefeated contender might be doing it wrong.
Chimaev, who has competed at welterweight and middleweight throughout his professional career, dropped a huge ball this past September at UFC 279 for his scheduled main event clash with Nate Diaz. That bout was booked as a welterweight affair, but “Borz” topped the scales an astonishing seven pounds over. The entire event was thrown for a loop and the mixed martial arts (MMA) community seemed ready to boot Chimaev back up to middleweight.
Surprisingly, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) remains open to Khamzat returning to the welterweight division even after ruining a main event centered around him taking out Diaz in his final Octagon fight. After all, Chimaev is 3-0 in the UFC’s welterweight division including keys wins over Gilbert Burns and Li Jingliang. He’s arguably one more win away from a 170-pound title shot.
Well, it’s been nearly four months since Khamzat’s egregious weight miss at UFC 279 and the Chechen fighter is looking bigger than ever. In fact, Chimaev looks to be a little too jacked to have any chance of cutting down to 170 pounds his next time out. Check it out below via Instagram:
Chimaev, 28, has never looked this big. Maybe he’s abandoning the welterweight ship and gearing up for a takeover of the UFC’s middleweight division, which just saw reigning champion Israel Adesanya lose his title to Alex Pereira at UFC 281. Maybe the undefeated fighter is proving a point in getting as big as possible only to shock the MMA world with a successful cut down to 170 pounds.
It’s anyone’s guess at this time, but it’s safe to say Khamzat is poised to smash his next opponent at whichever weight class he calls home.