UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley has some doubts about Khamzat Chimaev’s future as a welterweight. When Khamzat missed weight ahead of his UFC 279 headliner due to medical intervention, many began to wonder if the rising Chechen star would have to move up to middleweight. Sean O’Malley took to his YouTube channel to share some inside knowledge on how weight cuts usually work.
To start with, they don’t normally go like Khamzat’s. “I’ve never in my five-six years in the UFC had a doctor come and check on me during weight cuts. I’m sure if they come look at me the last pound when I’m in the bathtub, they’d probably say to anybody, ‘Whoa.’ Like, a doctor comes in, they’re not used to seeing humans like that.”
O’Malley Casts Doubt on Khamzat’s Future As A Welterweight
O’Malley, who fights in the 135-pound bantamweight division, expressed that he wants to see Khamzat at middleweight. Khamzat has fought in the UFC middleweight division before, but his string of recent successes and self-proclaimed title run have been at welterweight.
Critically, O’Malley believes that Khamzat has been cheating the scale. “I want to see him at 185 because even when he fought Gilbert Burns, he did the towel thing, lost five pounds. When was the last time Khamzat made 170 actually? Not the last two fights so it’s probably been over a year.”
With the next welterweight title fight likely to be an Usman vs Edwards rematch, Khamzat will probably have to face another top contender in the meantime if he wants to continue his rampage towards UFC gold. One name that has consistently come up as a potential foil to Khamzat’s wrestling-based style is Colby “Chaos” Covington.
Colby Covington hasn’t fought since his decision victory over Jorge Masvidal at the start of the year, and may well be on track to make his next UFC appearance soon. Can Khamzat take on the welterweight elite amidst his weight cutting fiasco? Sean O’Malley doesn’t think so.
“I want to watch his next fight, I’m so curious who it’s gonna be. It can’t be Colby [Covington]. He’s not gonna make 170, dude. I just don’t see him — I don’t even know if UFC will book him at 170. But it doesn’t seem like he wants to go up to 185. Which is kind of surprising because he is big and he is super f****** skilled.
And he’s gotta be confident. I don’t know if he wants those fights up there. Those are big boys.”Do you think we’ve seen the last of Khamzat at welterweight? Let us know in the comments.
