Report: ‘Medical issue’ cited for Chimaev’s epic weigh-in fail at UFC 279

Khamzat Chimaev stepped off the scales at the UFC 279 weigh-in around an hour ago and, because of what happened there, UFC 279 has…

By: Tim Bissell | 9 months ago
Report: ‘Medical issue’ cited for Chimaev’s epic weigh-in fail at UFC 279
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Khamzat Chimaev stepped off the scales at the UFC 279 weigh-in around an hour ago and, because of what happened there, UFC 279 has been thrown into chaos.

The undefeated Chimaev weighed a whopping 178.5 lbs on the scales for his welterweight main event with Nate Diaz (who weighed in at 171 lbs).

That huge disparity means there are now serious doubts that Chimaev will compete on Saturday night.

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported that he had been in touch with sources close to the situation and that Chimaev’s missed weight is being blamed on a ‘medical issue’.

Helwani stated that it is ‘unclear’ how that issue might affect Chimaev now or in the long term.

Helwani’s report does not back up a fan’s claim that Chimaev’s behaviour at a Las Vegas restaurant is to be blamed for him coming in heavy.

With Chimaev weighing in closer to middleweight than welterweight (perhaps he wants to fight Paulo Costa tomorrow?) Nate Diaz may have to wait longer to fulfill his UFC contract and get his release from the promotion.

Conversations are reportedly ongoing with the UFC to determine whether or not this fight is rescheduled of Diaz gets to compete against a different opponent.


UPDATE:



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Tim Bissell
Tim Bissell

Tim Bissell is a writer, editor and deputy site manager for Bloody Elbow. He has covered combat sports since 2015. Tim covers news and events and has also written longform and investigative pieces. Among Tim's specialties are the intersections between crime and combat sports. Tim has also covered head trauma, concussions and CTE in great detail.

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