Khamzat Chimaev hilariously blames Darren Till for infamous 7.5lb weight miss against Nate Diaz as UFC return nears
09/09/2024 11:58
Khamzat Chimaev has claimed that Darren Till’s sweet tooth played a part in his most infamous weight miss.
The Swedish star was due to fight Nate Diaz in September of 2022 as the main event of UFC 279. But he was forced to change up his opponent and the structure of the card a day out from the show after showing up at 178.5lb for a welterweight clash with an extended limit of 171lb.
Instead, he took on Kevin Holland at a catchweight while Diaz faced Tony Ferguson, fighting his way out of his UFC deal with a submission win. Now, two years later, Chimaev is blaming his close friend’s love of snacks for the incident.
- Who is Khabib Nurmagomedov?Inside the life of the most dominant UFC fighter of all time
Khamzat Chimaev missed weight by 7.5lb for Nate Diaz fight
Back in the latter half of 2022, Nate Diaz was locked into a lengthy UFC deal, but had managed to get to just one last fight. With a big-money boxing match against Jake Paul already on the horizon, he just needed to get out of his contract, but the promotion insisted on giving him an unfavourable matchup.
Enter Khamzat Chimaev, the undefeated phenom making waves at both welterweight and middleweight. Having just defeated Gilbert Burns, the Swede was rising quickly through the ranks and needed a big name to conquer on his way up.
This created a perfect scenario for the UFC, who pitted the two together in a matchup that was expected to be so one-sided that it would hurt Diaz’s bargaining power on the free agent market. However, those plans were scuppered on the scales as UFC 279 fell into disarray.
Chimaev arrived at weigh-ins at 178.5lb, despite there being a 171lb limit for non-title fights at welterweight. Diaz made the limit, and the card was re-booked, with the American now facing Tony Fergsuon whom he submitted to leave the promotion on a big win.
In the meantime, Chimaev took on Kevin Holland, whom he also submitted. Since that fight, he has competed just once; beating Kamaru Usman with a controversial decision win in Abu Dhabi last year.
Khamzat Chimaev claims Darren Till’s love of chocolate caused weight miss
During 2022, one of the most fascinating sub-plots in MMA was the unlikely friendship between former welterweight title challenger Darren Till and fast-rising Khamzat Chimaev. The Brit had gone to train with his divisional rival, and the pair struck up a bromance that enthralled fans.
The pair were inseparable for months, and Till even cornered Chimaev for his fight with Holland. And in a Spaces conversation on X last night, the Swede claimed that it was his close friend who caused his embarrassing weight miss by eating too much chocolate around him and testing his willpower.
"Before I met you I never missed my weight,” Chimaev said during a tongue-in-cheek chat. “Yeah of course because you eat everyday chocolate brother, I couldn't stop as well. You don't have discipline bro that's why you're not close to me now you're in Liverpool. Otherwise I took you here bro."
Till appeared stunned by the accusation, asking in shock “I made you miss weight? Are you really putting that on me? You must be joking me, Khamzat, I didn’t eat chocolate near you. Khamzat, don’t you dare, I never, ever ate chocolate near you, ever. You were worse than me, I’m a good boy!”
- Who is Dana White? All you need to know about the CEO and President of the UFC
