UFC brass undecided on Khamzat Chimaev's future: "Big beef today at matchmaking"

UFC president Dana White claims that Khamzat Chimaev‘s weight issues have left the promotion unsure on how to proceed.

Khamzat missed the welterweight limit by 7.5 lbs leading up to UFC 279, where he was originally booked to take on fan favourite Nate Diaz. Khamzat’s failure to make weight resulted in him losing his spot in the main event, and he went on to fight Kevin Holland in a catchweight bout (180 lbs) instead. Despite a very dominant performance, questions still remain about the UFC star’s future at welterweight. It’s worth noting that it’s not the first time that Khamzat has struggled to make 170 lbs, making it difficult for UFC matchmakers to decide on what’s next for him.

“There’s obviously 170 and 185 pounds, there was a big beef today at matchmaking whether he can make 170 pounds, whether we should even let him make 170 pounds again,” White said during the post-fight press conference after this week’s DWCS. “Those are all the things that we’re kicking around right now.”

Khamzat recently hinted at stepping up to middleweight for his next fight; however, he later went on to challenge number two ranked welterweight Colby Covington. It’s still unclear when and in what division Khamzat will return to the octagon. Before any decisions can be made, he first has to sit down with the UFC brass and discuss his weight issues. While White seems to have Khamzat’s back, the same cannot be said for UFC’s matchmakers.

“I’m in the middle,” White said. “What does he want to do? Where does he want to be and what does he want to do? Does he want to make 170 and go for the title at 170 or does he want to go to 185 and go for the title there?”

“That was the big debate we had today in the matchmaking meeting,” White later added. “One guy said one thing, one guy said another thing. Then I said, what does he really want? Somebody get in there and figure out what he really wants to do and let’s figure out and let’s make a fight.”