"It's hard to forgive" - Georges St-Pierre believes a second weight miss will prevent Khamzat Chimaev from getting title shot
Khamzat Chimaev has been largely unapologetic about his terrible weight miss at UFC 279. Former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre believes another weight miss could jeopardize Chimaev's chances at a welterweight title shot.
According to St-Pierre, missing weight is a sign of disrespect to one's opponent and the sport at large. Instead of jumping to any conclusions, 'Rush' said in an interview with The Schmo:
"Well, yeah, he needs to make weight. 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 is a reason, maybe there is a medical reason or something. So when you don't know, you don't know. But for sure, in the future, if he miss weight another time, maybe that will prevent him from having a title shot."
While UFC president Dana White did not penalize Khamzat Chimaev for missing weight, he has hinted that 'Borz' will be made to move up to middleweight in the near future. Asked if the Chechen-born Swede should be allowed to continue at 170 lbs, St-Pierre said:
"I don't have any data or any information on what happened. But maybe, you know, to give him the chance to go back at 170 if he wants to, you know. But he can't miss weight. Like missing weight, it's hard to forgive."
Watch St-Pierre's interview with The Schmo below:
Sean Strickland believes Khamzat Chimaev has better chance of winning gold at welterweight
Khamzat Chimaev was allegedly cramping up while cutting weight for his scheduled welterweight bout against Nate Diaz. As per Dana White, doctors sent in to check on 'Broz' instructed him to stop cutting weight.
Even Chimaev himself, when prodded by Joe Rogan in his post-fight interview, hinted that he could have made weight if it was not for the doctors.
However, Chimaev's coach Andreas Michael later took responsibilty for stopping the brutal weight cut. Michael even expects 'Borz' to be fighting at middleweight for his next fight, potentially at the end of this year.
According to middleweight prospect Sean Strickland, Khamzat Chimaev has a better chance of winning the title at 170 lbs. Strickland, who has fought at welterweight previously, said in a recent interview with Helen Yee:
“At welterweight, life was f***ing miserable. I was f***ing running every night. But he will have a better shot at being a champion at welterweight, I’ll tell you that. But I also understand that that cut is f***ing brutal, and if I didn’t get into a motorcycle accident, I’d probably still be a welterweight.”
Watch Strickland's interview with Helen Yee below: