Former UFC two-division champion Henry Cejudo has some advice for Khamzat Chimaev following his eight-pound weight miss ahead of UFC 279. Cejudo, no stranger to weight struggles when he was a flyweight, advised Chimaev to adjust his training regimen in an interview with Helen Yee.
“You won’t come back, if you don’t get your s*** together, you won’t come back and ever make that weight again. Trust me.
Cejudo to Khamzat: “You won’t come back if you don’t get your s*** together”
Even if you have big balls, you won’t make it because when you’re off that much — just imagine, he’s struggling to make 178. He gave everything he had, his coach said his tongue was wide, he was vomiting, all that other stuff. I’ve been there before. He’s going to have to really tweak his training. He’s probably training too much and that’s allowing his metabolism to eat more.
There’s a way of doing it where you can still make weight, still feel good, while you’re not overworking your body, because even though you’re working your body, you can also miss weight. I used to do that, that’s the only reason why I say that.”
Chimaev, due to the weight miss, missed out on fighting Nate Diaz in the headliner at UFC 279. Instead, he faced Kevin Holland in a catchweight bout, delivering a first-round finish. Kevin Holland’s wrestling has long been his Achilles heel, a fact Cejudo acknowledged.
Chimaev’s finishing ability leaves little doubt as to his fighting prowess, but he has yet to fight in a five-round main event. Cejudo openly wondered how the Chechen star would fare when faced with a fight durable enough to withstand his early onslaught.
“It was great but at the same time, I wanted to see him do work, because if he doesn’t tap out Kevin Holland, how does he look in that third, fourth, fifth round?
I really wanted to see him up against a competitor who would really challenge him because then we would know how good he is, but Kevin Holland’s got a big hole and it’s called wrestling, and it was easy work for him. But I also saw his breathing was getting a little heavy, which I thought was a little suspect for Chimaev.”
Chimaev has long proclaimed his end goal of capturing the UFC welterweight title. He’s probably a couple of wins away from a title fight, especially considering that the next 170-pound title fight will most likely be a rematch for Kamaru Usman against Leon Edwards.
Cejudo may get his wish if Chimaev fights another elite welterweight in Colby Covington, whose cardio has left virtually all his opponents exhausted bar Kamaru Usman. What’s your take on Chimaev’s weight situation? Let us know in the comments.
