"This is very bad" - When Khabib Nurmagomedov blamed "no Muslims" for Khamzat Chimaev's weight-miss blunder
Khabib Nurmagomedov had previously reacted to Khamzat Chimaev's infamous weight-miss incident a couple of years back. 'The Eagle,' for his comments, received a significant amount of backlash on social media.
Chimaev was set to headline UFC 279 (Sept. 10, 2022) in a welterweight bout against Nate Diaz. Nevertheless, fight week was marred by controversy, first due to a backstage brawl involving the teams of Chimaev, Diaz, and Kevin Holland. Additionally, on weigh-in day, 'Borz' tipped the scales at 178.5 pounds - 7.5 pounds over the non-title welterweight bout limit (171 pounds).
The UFC resultantly reshuffled multiple fights on the card. Chimaev ultimately fought and beat Kevin Holland via first-round submission in a 180-pound catchweight bout at UFC 279, while Diaz ended up fighting Tony Ferguson in the main event.
At a Human Appeal charity event in 2022, Nurmagomedov suggested that Chimaev didn't have fellow Muslims in his team, and attributed that as being one of the factors that led to Chimaev missing weight.
As reported by The Mirror, the Dagestan-born MMA icon asserted that he'd recently watched Khamzat Chimaev's weigh-in, followed the weight-related happenings and looked closely at Chimaev's team. The devout Muslim indicated that 'Borz' needs fellow Muslims who can guide him correctly. Nurmagomedov said:
"There are no Muslims around him [Chimaev] and this is very bad. Because if you are a Muslim, you need good, strong people around you. [They] will say, 'Come back, do this.' When you become famous and rich, when you gain power and [around you] there are no people who will give advice or you do not listen to them, then something will happen. You need good people, even if you don't like it, you need them."
Darren Till and Reza Madadi disapproved of Khabib Nurmagomedov's remarks regarding Khamzat Chimaev
For years, Reza Madadi trained with the Chechnya-born Khamzat Chimaev at the Allstars Training Center in Sweden. In an Instagram post, Madadi alluded to the fact that Khabib Nurmagomedov too had missed weight in his UFC career.
The Iranian-Swedish ex-UFC fighter lauded Nurmagomedov's MMA accomplishments and the way in which he represents his country and religion, but he noted that having Muslims on one's team doesn't necessarily make a fighter perfect. 'Mad Dog' added that Chimaev trains with people from various faiths. Madadi opined that Nurmagomedov learned from his own weight miss and 'Borz' could do the same.
Check out his post here:
Similarly, then-UFC fighter Darren Till, who'd trained with Khamzat Chimaev, said that he respected Khabib Nurmagomedov as a fighter but disagreed with his comments.
Speaking to ESPN MMA, Till emphasized that Nurmagomedov missed weight and often struggled with weight cuts. He further pointed out that not being a Muslim and/or enjoying oneself doesn't make someone a bad person.