Dricus Du Plessis merciless to Khamzat Chimaev: This is no excuse!

Former UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis spoke out on Khamzat Chimaev’s problems with weight cutting ahead of the UFC 328 gala. The South African representative, however, was not about to show sympathy for “Borz” and openly admitted that he does not buy the explanation for the fatal weight cut.

Khamzat Chimaev caused one of the biggest sensations in recent months in the UFC, losing his championship bout to Sean Strickland. The Chechen entered the UFC 328 gala as undefeated middleweight champion, but after five rounds he had to accept defeat after a non-unanimous decision by the judges. Thus, Strickland regained the lost belt.

Even before the bout itself, however, there was a lot of talk about Chimaev’s health problems related to weight cutting. “Borz” was the last to appear at the official weigh-in and, according to many fans, looked visibly weakened and completely exhausted.

After the gala, additional information was provided by Arman Tsarukyan, who revealed that Chimaev was about to undergo an extremely tough weight cutting process. After all, the fighter was initially preparing for a potential fight with Jiri Prochazka in the welterweight division. Also, Khamzat’s brother later admitted that the champion’s body “almost shut down” during the final hours of the weight cut.

Despite these reports, Dricus du Plessis does not believe that weight problems can be an excuse for his defeat to Strickland.

Du Plessis has no mercy for Chimaev

In an interview with Fight Forecast, the former UFC champion strongly criticized the translations appearing after the UFC 328 gala.

– Honestly, I think the whole excuse of losing weight is just ridiculous,” du Plessis said.

– Did he say he lost 12 pounds in 24 hours? Those are amateur numbers. It’s not even that much. What happens during the whole camp doesn’t matter. It’s the last 24 hours that count, and 12 pounds is really not much. I certainly gained more than that, and I also had severe weight cuts. One kilogram can make a huge difference. But using weight cutting as an excuse? You don’t go out afterwards and say, “I lost because of it.” No!

Du Plessis also said that if Chimaev is having increasing problems shearing pounds, he should consider changing weight categories.

– If you want to change the division, then change it. But blaming it on bad weight cutting is like saying you lost because you were out of shape. It’s your responsibility! You need to be more disciplined!

The former champion went even further and admitted that the defeat to Strickland hit Chimaev’s image hard.

– You made the decision to fight yourself… so act like a guy and accept defeat like a guy. No excuses. A lot of that whole aura around him is gone. The question is whether it will motivate him or break him. He doesn’t deserve a rematch now because he has zero defenses of the belt.

It is worth recalling that du Plessis himself lost to Chimaev at UFC 319, when “Borz” was reaching for the middleweight title. However, it is possible that the men will meet again in the octagon in the future – much depends on the UFC’s further plans for Sean Strickland and the situation in the up to 84 kilogram division.