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Chimaev vs. Strickland

TJ Dillashaw said his teammate Khamzat Chimaev was ready to give Sean Strickland $1 million to not fight him at UFC 328.

Chimaev suffered through a brutal weight cut ahead of his UFC middleweight title fight against Strickland at UFC 328 earlier this month. Although he eventually made the 185 lbs middleweight title limit, Chimaev had a poor performance during the bout, showing gas tank issues for the first time as a middleweight. Ultimately, he lost his belt in a close split decision loss to Strickland.

TJ Dillashaw Discusses Khamzat Chimaev’s Horrible Weight Cut Before UFC 328

Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Chimaev’s teammate Dillashaw at The Garage under strength and conditioning coach Sam Calavitta, went into detail about how bad a weight cut that the former champ suffered through ahead of UFC 328.

According to Dillashaw, he thought that Chimaev might die from the weight cut. He also admitted that Chimaev was ready to give Strickland $1 million to not fight at UFC 328 due to how horrible the weight cut was going for him, as the former champ did not believe he would make weight.

“He wanted to give Strickland $1 million and say, ‘Hey, take it. I can’t make it, I’m going to die.’ And you forget this guy’s got half a thyroid, right? His metabolism is half of a normal man. And so if you’re not treating it the right way, you could kill him. And I really believe he was on the verge of death making that weight cut,” Dillashaw said.

“I saw him sitting in the bathtub to cut weight. It was like, Sam wouldn’t have him sitting in the bathtub to cut weight. … And then to hear the story of what actually was happening to him and him puking up green bile and just all the like crazy (expletive). He should not have made it to the fight. And to see how he performed still, Round 5, Round 4, he still had the better fight in cardio than in Strickland, and Strickland’s supposed to be a cardio guy. Khamzat’s the one going forward landing the bigger shots, right? So Sean won a fight going backwards, throwing a jab? I don’t see it that way. But it makes me realize how tough Khamzat is to do as well as he did on almost dying before getting on that scale. Like I’m saying, almost dying, like scary stories.”

Khamzat Chimaev Wants Rematch

After losing a split decision to Strickland, Chimaev’s original plan was to move up to 205 lbs, where he won’t have to die from his weight cut. But he quickly changed his mind and altered his plans as he now wants to fight Strickland in a rematch, calling his rival out several times on social media.

We’ll see if the UFC grants Chimaev the rematch, as they typically don’t do that for champions who never successfully defended their belt. Especially after hearing how tough a weight cut he had, it might not be a good idea for him to attempt to make 185 lbs again. But money talks, and if the UFC thinks Strickland vs. Chimaev 2 is the biggest money fight they can book, maybe it gets done.