Khamzat Chimaev’s rising stock has taken a big hit following his unforgivable weigh miss at UFC 279 earlier this month. While the undefeated welterweight went on to absolutely destroy Kevin Holland in a makeshift co-main event at UFC 279 it is Khamzat’s incredible weight miss that remains the talking point.
Chimaev, who is undoubtedly one of the best prospects to come into UFC in a very long time, was originally booked to fight Nate Diaz in UFC 279’s headliner. But after badly missing weight by nearly eight pounds “Borz” was re-booked against Holland and demoted to the second act. The change didn’t affect Chimaev’s performance, but it certainly left him with less support than he’s used to.
Outside of being booed by fans at the ceremonial weigh ins (see it HERE), Khamzat has received considerable backlash from the MMA community, which includes both fighters and media members. The most recent fighter to weigh in on Chimaev’s UFC 279 debacle is none other than Georges St-Pierre. The former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion didn’t completely bash “Borz” for his scale fail, but GSP did say it’s nearly unforgiveable to miss weight by that much.
“He needs to make weight,” St-Pierre told The Schmo. “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 [for 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].”
At this time it’s unknown what UFC plans on doing with Chimaev. The undefeated contender was expected to fight for the UFC welterweight title with a win over Diaz at UFC 279, but considering that bout never happened fight fans don’t know what to expect next. UFC president Dana White suggested that Chimaev may be better suited for the middleweight level, although the promotion is likely to give “Borz” one more shot to prove he can cut down to 170 pounds.
What say you, Maniacs? Can you forgive Khamzat? What weight should he fight at next?
Sound off!