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Khamzat Chimaev speaks out with just minutes to go as Dana White gives the UFC 308 co-main event a title shot boost

Khamzat Chimaev speaks out with just minutes to go as Dana White gives the UFC 308 co-main event a title shot boost

Unfortunately, there is always a concern that Khamzat Chimaev will either lose weight or withdraw from his fights due to health complications.

This Friday was no different as fans eagerly awaited Khamzat Chimaev to step on the scales to weigh-in for his UFC 308 fight against Robert Whittaker.

The fight between the two was scheduled to take place last June, but “Borz” withdrew due to ongoing health complications. Since then, the 30-year-old has made several changes to his team and camp and seemingly improved things.

(LR) Opponents Robert Whittaker of New Zealand and Khamzat Chimaev of Russia compete during the UFC 308 press conference at the Etihad Arena on October...
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Khamzat Chimaev has fans nervous as he only has 12 minutes left

Since Chimaev's fight against Whittaker took place in Abu Dhabi, the official weigh-ins took place early Friday morning local time.

The fighters had a two-hour window in which to weigh-in, but they had to have notified the commission if they wanted to attempt to make weight in the first hour.

“The Reaper” wasted no time weighing in at 185.5 pounds, fulfilling his end of the bargain. But as time continued to pass, fans became a little more skeptical of Chimaev's weight cut.

In the past, “Borz” has struggled to make weight at both 170 pounds and 185 pounds, but has only lost weight once when he was scheduled to face Nate Diaz.

Nevertheless, with only 15 minutes left for the fighters to weigh in, both Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway had successfully made it to 145 pounds, with the main event official and only Chimaev, who everyone had been waiting for.

“Sorry I'm late guys, I was shopping,” Chimaev joked as he finally made his way to the scales with just a few minutes to spare.

Luckily, the 30-year-old made it in time, weighed in at 186 pounds and was in such a good mood that he could even crack a joke. He looked in possibly the best shape he's seen so far in his UFC tenure.

Dana White gives Whittaker and Chimaev a boost with commentary on the title fight

Although this is a big middleweight title fight, it was made less significant when Dana White admitted that Sean Strickland will likely fight Dricus Du Plessis for the title next, despite only having one win since losing the belt.

However, the UFC boss went back on his word a bit last Thursday when asked if either Chimaev or Whittaker could overtake Strickland.

“Let’s see how the fight turns out. We have to see how it turns out before we start talking about jumping lines and who would take the title next,” White told Main Event TV.

“In this division (Whittaker vs. Chimaev) is the worst fight you can do right now. Whoever wins, it’s a good thing for them,” he continued.

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