Arman Tsarukyan says Khamzat Chimaev‘s rough weight cut for UFC 328 had him questioning himself.
Chimaev (15-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland (31-7 MMA, 18-7 UFC) by split decision last Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Chimaev visibly slowed down in Round 2, when he pulled guard after a failed takedown. There was controversy surrounding his weigh-in after his weight was read rather quickly by officials, but Tsarukyan assures Chimaev made weight – but definitely struggled.
“He had to cut 13 pounds,” Tsarukyan said of Chimaev on the JAXXON Podcast. “Last day, he had to cut 12 or 13 pounds. First nine pounds was easy, and then he felt bad during the night, and then he woke up and said to us, ‘I feel so weak and, like, no energy. I don’t know how I’m going to cut this last four pounds.’ But we just pushed him so hard. He didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to finish the cut, but the team, me and the coaches, we tried to push him to make the weight, and he made weight.”
Immediately after the fight, Chimaev told UFC CEO Dana White that he wants to move up to light heavyweight, something he was gearing up for before drawing Strickland. However, the former champion is now “obsessed” with running things back with Strickland.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Chimaev had ‘no energy’ cutting weight for UFC 328, says teammate