What happened at UFC 308 weigh-ins? Khamzat Chimaev scare and full details
The UFC 308 weigh-ins are done with, and Khamzat Chimaev once again appears to have garnered attention for his weigh-in segment. Ultimately, Chimaev as well as all the other fighters competing on the card successfully made weight for their respective fights.
Chimaev fans seemingly got a major scare, as he was the last fighter to step on the scales during the official UFC 308 weigh-ins. He did so with just 13 minutes left for the weigh-in session to end. The Chechnya-born fighter, who moved to and currently represents the U.A.E. weighed in at 186 pounds for his matchup.
'Borz' is booked to face former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a five-round middleweight bout. The weight limit for title fights in the division is 185 pounds, whereas that for non-title bouts is 186 pounds. Since the Whittaker-Chimaev fight is a non-title bout, Chimaev didn't have to cut the extra pound.
Previously, Chimaev has either missed weight or struggled to make weight on multiple occasions, most notably for the UFC 279 card in September 2022, wherein his weight miss led to a major card reshuffling.
Watch Khamzat Chimaev's UFC 308 weigh-in below:
A notable element at play was that under the UFC's new weigh-in protocols, athletes are expected to hit the scales within the first hour of the weigh-in session. If an athlete struggles to make weight during that hour, they're allowed more time to cut weight and weigh in during the second hour.
Chimaev weighed in with a few minutes left as hour two neared its end, causing concern among fans and experts, given his history of health issues and weigh-in mishaps in recent years.
As reported by MMA Junkie, UFC officials stated that the early weigh-in window for the UFC 308 event was changed to two hours after having previously asserted that it was one hour.
UFC 308 official weigh-ins result
A couple of other intriguing details concerning the UFC 308 weigh-ins were changes to Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo and Mateusz Rebecki vs. Myktybek Orolbai. The Basharat-Hugo matchup went from being a bantamweight bout to a featherweight bout. The Rebecki-Orolbai matchup went from being a lightweight bout to a 160-pound catchweight bout.
Also, Diego Lopes weighed in at 145 pounds as the backup/replacement fighter for the UFC 308 headlining match -- the UFC featherweight title bout between reigning champion Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway.
Check out the complete UFC 308 weigh-in results below:
Main card (2 pm ET / 11 am PT on ESPN+ PPV)
Ilia Topuria (145) vs. Max Holloway (145), UFC featherweight title
Robert Whittaker (185.5) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (186), middleweight
Magomed Ankalaev (204.5) vs. Aleksandar Rakic (206), light heavyweight
Lerone Murphy (145.5) vs. Dan Ige (146), featherweight
Shara Magomedov (185) vs. Armen Petrosyan (186), middleweight
Prelims (ESPN+ at 10 am ET / 7 am PT)
Ibo Aslan (205) vs. Raffael Cerqueira (203), light heavyweight
Geoff Neal (171) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (171), welterweight
Mateusz Rebecki (160) vs. Myktybek Orolbai (159), catchweight
Abus Magomedov (185) vs. Brunno Ferreira (185.5), middleweight
Kennedy Nzechukwu (241) vs. Chris Barnett (264), heavyweight
Farid Basharat (137) vs. Victor Hugo (145.5), featherweight
Ismail Naurdiev (185) vs. Bruno Silva (186), middleweight
Rinat Fakhretdinov (171) vs. Carlos Leal (169.5), welterweight