Khamzat Chimaev insists he has multiple middleweight fights left despite struggles making 185lb

Khamzat Chimaev has declared that he now plans to not only fight again at 185lb, but to completely dominate the division.

Prior to his fight with Sean Strickland back in May, the consensus was that after a title defence at middleweight Chimaev would make the step up to light-heavyweight and finally rid himself of his issues on the scale.

Sean Strickland has accused Khamzat Chimaev of 'cheating' by failing to legitimately make 185lb on Friday morning

The Chechen fighter has always struggled making weight, infamously missing by over 7lb for his doomed 2022 fight with Nate Diaz. There was then serious controversy about whether or not he actually came in at 185lb for the UFC 328 main event given the use of an analog scale.

After his first UFC defeat, Khamzat Chimaev appears to be re-evaluating his place in the sport. Had he beaten Sean Strickland, he may have walked straight into an embattled light-heavyweight title picture, but he now seems to be eyeing multiple fights at 185lb.

It took him almost the entire two-hour window to weigh in for UFC 328 in Newark. And the movement of the mechanical scale left Strickland wondering if he actually did make the middleweight limit or if the commission gave him some leeway.

But speaking with media in Russia yesterday ahead of his RAF Wrestling match with Tyron Woodley, Chimaev said of his fighting future: “Until I break everyone at 185, I’m not leaving this weight class.

“There was a mistake. Mistakes can always happen. Things can’t be perfect. We’re only human. I’m not a saint who never makes mistakes. I don’t want to talk about these things – the weight cut, injuries. That’s not for me,”