Khamzat Chimaev has been backed by his coach to make welterweight despite missing the 170lb limit by 7.5lb for his last fight.
The Chechen stepped on the scale at 178.5lb for his fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 279, which was cancelled because of the huge weight miss. Chimaev went on to fight Kevin Holland in a catchweight fight at the event as Holland, who weighed a pound heavier than Chimaev, was choked out in just over two minutes.
It's not the first time Chimaev has struggled with the welterweight limit, as he needed an extra hour to cut half a pound for his fight against Li Jingliang last October. The fighter's coach Andreas Michael has revealed Chimaev weighs 196lb outside of training camp but could make welterweight if given around three months notice.
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"Middleweight for the belt, I would like that," Michael said of Chimaev's next bout. "That's an amazing fight, or we can fight at welterweight as well. There is no problem at all. It's just about good preparation, good warning for if we're going to drop a lot of weight as we need time. Not this four or five weeks preparation because it's not doable in that time.
"If they gave us three months for welterweight that's perfect to get down to the weight, but middleweight I can fight anywhere and anytime." - "right now he is like 89 kilos, so he can make weight for middleweight tomorrow. It's no problem for middleweight, even if everyone thinks he is like 140 kilos right now."
Chimaev has switched between middleweight and welterweight for most of his fighting career, with the Chechen even winning national wrestling titles at over 200lb in Sweden. In his last UFC appearance at 185lb, Chimaev knocked out Gerald Meerschaert in just 17-seconds. 'Borz' was taken the distance for the first time in his fighting career by former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns in April.
When Israel Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Alex Pereira last month, Chimaev was one of the first to call for a fight with the newly-crowned champion. Pereira accused Chimaev of turning down a fight against him at UFC 283 on January 21, to which 'Borz' responded: “I asked them about this fight in Brazil. Fake belt, fake coach, fake fighter.”
UFC boss Dana White revealed the promotion was working on a fight between Chimaev and former interim champion Colby Covington, but nothing has yet been announced as official. Chimaev has poured cold water on a return in early 2023 by claiming that "nobody wants to fight" him and his fellow top contenders are "running away".
