{"id":38365,"date":"2026-05-20T22:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T22:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Dricus-Du-Plessis-dismisses-weight-cut-excuse-for-Khamzat-Chimaev-at-UFC-328-201273"},"modified":"2026-05-20T22:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T22:13:08","slug":"dricus-du-plessis-dismisses-weight-cut-excuse-for-khamzat-chimaev-at-ufc-328","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/dricus-du-plessis-dismisses-weight-cut-excuse-for-khamzat-chimaev-at-ufc-328\/","title":{"rendered":"Dricus Du Plessis dismisses weight cut excuse for Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nKhamzat Chimaev lost a split decision to Sean Strickland at UFC
\n328. | Getty\/UFC<\/b><\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

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Dricus Du
\nPlessis<\/a> isn\u2019t buying the notion that Khamzat
\nChimaev<\/a> was hindered by a weight cut ahead of his championship
\ndefeat to Sean
\nStrickland<\/a> at UFC
\n328<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chimaev looked drained at weigh-ins ahead of the bout, and after
\nthe loss, both Arman
\nTsarukyan<\/a> and his brother, Artur,
\nclaimed<\/a> that the Chechen fighter\u2019s performance was affected by
\nthe cut. \u201cBorz\u201d appeared to gas out significantly on a failed
\ntakedown in Round 2, though he recovered to make the fight
\ncompeitive in what was ultimately a split-decision defeat.<\/p>\n

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Du Plessis, who lost the middleweight belt to Chimaev in a lopsided
\ndecision at UFC 319 last August, wasn\u2019t swayed by the
\nexplanations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this whole weight cut excuse is ridiculous, to be honest
\nwith you,\u201d Du Plessis said in an interview with Fight
\nForecast<\/a> \u201cI think Tsarukyan said he cut 12 pounds in the 24
\nhours. Those are rookie numbers. Twelve pounds in 24 hours, that\u2019s
\nnot that bad. [46 pounds] in total, over the camp it doesn\u2019t
\nmatter. What matters is that last 24 hours and 12 pounds is not
\nthat much. I\u2019ve definitely done more than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, sometimes I\u2019ve had bad weight cuts, too. I have. Everybody
\nthat cuts weight has had that experience where the next day you
\nfeel \u2018ugh\u2019 and you have a bad cut. One kilogram can make the
\nworld\u2019s difference in a weight cut. I just think using a weight cut
\nas an excuse when it comes to the fight, even if you did have a bad
\nweight cut, it\u2019s fine. It\u2019s happened to all of us, but you don\u2019t
\nGo Go<\/a> out
\nand say, \u2018I lost the fight because of that.\u2019 No. If you want to
\nchange weight divisions, change weight divisions, but blaming a bad
\nweight cut is like saying, \u2018I lost the fight because I wasn\u2019t fit.\u2019
\nIt\u2019s on you. Be more disciplined. Be more disciplined then and the
\nweight cut will be easier. Any excuse, for me, when you get into
\nthe octagon, there is no excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aura Lost?<\/h2>\n

Chimaev has been involved in difficult fights before \u2014 most notably
\nagainst Kamaru
\nUsman<\/a> and Gilbert
\nBurns<\/a> \u2014 but Strickland was his first career defeat. For most of
\nhis UFC tenure, \u201cBorz\u201d has dominated the opposition. As a result of
\nthe showing against Strickland, Du Plessis thinks much of the
\nChimaev mystique has evaporated. Chimaev had stated in different
\nmoments that he wants an immediate rematch with Strickland or to
\nmove to the light heavyweight division. As of now, the former
\nchampion\u2019s future is still undecided.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of aura was lost in that, but I mean, Khamzat\u2019s
\nstill an incredible, incredible fighter,\u201d Du Plessis said. \u201cPeople
\ndon\u2019t necessarily enjoy that fighting style, but he\u2019s so dominant,
\nhe has been. This fight is going to go one of two ways for him. Is
\nthis going to break him or is this going to motivate him to say,
\n\u2018Listen, I can\u2019t just rely on my wrestling. I need to fight MMA,\u2019
\nbecause that is at the end of the day where this sport is heading.
\nThe wrestling guys have been so dominant that everybody\u2019s starting
\nto catch up.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Khamzat, he said he wants to go to 205. The easier route for
\nsure, to take off the burden of a weight cut, but I don\u2019t know. I
\nhonestly don\u2019t know. You know with Khamzat, he says one thing, then
\nhe says another thing. He said he\u2019s moving up to 205 to Dana
\n[White], but now he\u2019s calling Strickland for a rematch. I don\u2019t
\nthink he deserves a rematch. He definitely doesn\u2019t because he has
\nno title defenses, zero. So it doesn\u2019t justify a rematch at all,
\nbut it\u2019s going to be interesting to see what he does next.\u201d<\/p>\n