Editor’s note: The article has been updated at 5:15 p.m. ET on
Friday to add additional information.
Khamzat
Chimaev has fumbled the biggest opportunity of his career.
Advertisement
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship was slated to return to the
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a highly anticipated welterweight
clash between Khamzat
Chimaev and Nate Diaz, but
that may not be the case for long. Weight concerns plagued many
competitors ahead of UFC
279, and even though only three officially missed weight, one
of the most important players tipped the scales way over the
limit.
This marks the first UFC main event for Chimaev, who is a perfect
11-0 as a professional mixed martial artist. “Borz” faced the first
significant obstacle of his career in his last outing as Gilbert
Burns gave the Allstars Training Center fighter everything he
could handle in a back-and-forth war. However, Chimaev passed that
test and will look to prove he’s ready for a title fight. The
28-year-old stepped onto the scale weighing 178.5 pounds, 7.5
pounds above the welterweight non-championship limit. After missing
weight badly, Chimaev laughed and shrugged, and then flipped middle
fingers to the cameras and media members in attendance. It is
unclear how the fight will proceed going forward.
Despite losing his last two fights, and with his last win coming in
2019, Diaz (20-13) finds himself in another pay-per-view main
event. The fan-favorite fighter from Stockton, Calif., is on the
last fight of his UFC contract and will look to ride into free
agency by scoring a near-historic upset. The 37-year-old veteran
weighed 171 pounds for potentially his final fight inside the
Octagon, fist-bumping a commission member as he stepped to the
scale.
On Friday morning, the promotion elected to shift the bantamweight
match between Irene
Aldana (137.5) and Macy
Chiasson (139.5) into a 140-pound catchweight due to the weight
issues for both women. This adds to the other two pre-planned
catchweight contests at the event, with Kevin
Holland (179.5) vs. Daniel
Rodriguez (179) taking place at 180 pounds, and the Jailton
Almeida (216.5) scrap with Anton
Turkalj (214) coming at 220 pounds.
Two additional fighters missed weight: Hakeem
Dawodu (149.5) clocked in 3.5 pounds above the featherweight
cap ahead of his preliminary collision with Julian
Erosa (146). More significantly, Chris
Barnett (267.5) is the second heavyweight in UFC history to
miss weight, coming in 1.5 pounds over the heavyweight limit.
Dawodu has been fined 30% of his purse, while Barnett’s fine has
been assessed at 20% of his purse.
The UFC 279 main card will stream on ESPN+ pay-per-view at 10 p.m.
ET/7 p.m. PT on Saturday. If all fights remain in the lineup, the
early prelims begin on UFC Fight Pass and ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m.
PT, before moving to ESPN+ and ESPNews at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
UFC 279 Weigh-in Results:
Khamzat
Chimaev (178.5)* vs. Nate Diaz
(171)
Tony
Ferguson (171) vs. Jingliang
Li (170.5)
Kevin
Holland (179.5) vs. Daniel
Rodriguez (179)**
Irene
Aldana (137.5) vs. Macy
Chiasson (139.5)***
Ion
Cutelaba (205.5) vs. Johnny
Walker (205)
Hakeem
Dawodu (149.5)^ vs. Julian
Erosa (146)
Jailton
Almeida (216.5) vs. Anton
Turkalj (214)^^
Jamie
Pickett (185.5) vs. Denis
Tiuliulin (186)
Chris
Barnett (267.5)# vs. Jake
Collier (265)
Norma
Dumont (146) vs. Danyelle
Wolf (146)
Heili
Alateng (135) vs. Chad
Anheliger (135.5)
Melissa
Martinez (113.5) vs. Elise Reed
(115.5)
Yohan
Lainesse (171) vs. Darian
Weeks (170.5)
* Chimaev missed weight by 7.5 pounds.
** Scheduled as a 180-pound catchweight.
*** Scheduled as a 140-pound catchweight.
^ Dawodu missed weight by 3.5 pounds and has been fined 30% of his
purse.
^ Scheduled as a 220-pound catchweight.
# Barnett missed weight by 1.5 pounds and has been fined 20% of his
purse.