One of the greatest UFC fighters of all time says that fast-rising welterweight star Khamzat Chimaev not only disrespected Nate Diaz when he missed weight for their planned fight at UFC 279, but he also disrespected the sport.
Chimaev blew a massive opportunity at UFC 279. The Russian-born crushing machine was set to compete in his first UFC pay-per-view against one of the industry’s most popular talents in Diaz. Not only was it a career-defining spotlight, but “Borz” was a ridiculous betting favorite in a booking that he likely would have dominated. Alas, that moment never came to pass.
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On the Friday before the event, Chimaev missed the contracted weight for the bout by a whopping seven pounds. It threw the entire top of the card into disarray as the promotion ended up switching opponents for the top three fights and the 28-year-old ended up facing former middleweight turned welterweight Kevin Holland. That weight scale fail drew the ire of many MMA observers and has turned him into a cage-fighting villain.
Georges St-Pierre suggests Khamzat Chimaev face winner of Usman vs. Edwards III next
Missing weight is one of the biggest no-nos in the sport and is viewed as the peak of unprofessionalism. UFC Hall-of-Famer Georges St-Pierre respects the immense talent of Chimaev, however, during a recent appearance on “The Schmo and the Pro” the MMA legend explained that the welterweight contender disrespected the entire sport with his weight miss at UFC 279.
“He needs to make weight. When you miss weight it’s a big disrespect not only to your opponent but to the sport. But we don’t know what happened. Maybe there’s a reason, maybe there’s a medical reason or something, so when you don’t know, you don’t know. But for sure, in the future, if he misses weight another time, maybe that will prevent him from having a title shot.
“Maybe give him the chance to go back at 170 if he wants to, but he can’t miss weight. Missing weight, it’s hard to forgive. As a fan, I would like to see Kamaru Usman get revenge [in the next title fight] because if anyone deserves it, it’s him. Maybe perhaps Chimaev has a shot against the winner of this fight [with Leon Edwards].”
Chimaev was a top candidate to compete for the belt in the near future. However, despite another dominant win last week, his miscue, and the fact that champion Leon Edwards is guaranteed to face former weight class king Kamaru Usman in a runback of their August bout, means “Borz” is unlikely to compete for a title until the second half of 2023.