Khamzat Chimaev Missed Weight By 7.5 Pounds Ahead Of UFC 279 Main Event Against Nate Diaz

Undefeated UFC welterweight Khamzat Chimaev is supposed to face the legendary Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 279 on Saturday night in Las Vegas, but the future of that fight is in serious doubt after Chimaev came nowhere close to making weight on Friday.

There were reports on Friday morning that Chimaev was well off weight ahead of the weigh-in, and sure enough when he strode onto the stage and stepped on the scale, he came in a full 7.5 pounds over the 171 pound limit for the welterweight division.

That is no small miss, as evidenced by the fact that he didn’t try to completely strip down and do the whole towel dance thing, and while he has an extra hour to try and make weight, that doesn’t seem like that’s even close to possible. It is very funny watching him step back on the scale and flex for the cameras after missing weight by nearly 10 pounds, because it’s likely that the fight will have to be called off and the main event restructured. Ariel Helwani reports it’s a “medical issue” that caused Chimaev to miss weight by that much, although there aren’t any specifics on the details.

It has not been a good weekend for Dana White and UFC 279, after a kerfuffle backstage at the undercard weigh ins, also featuring Chimaev and Kevin Holland, led to a cancelation of the press conference.

We’ll see how UFC proceeds from here, as having to replace the main event one day out is never an easy or enjoyable task, and it certainly doesn’t sound like Chimaev is going to come close to meeting weight. The shuffle of the deck that seems most likely is that Holland and Chimaev move into a co-main, with Diaz taking on Tony Ferguson, as both of those fighters are on the main card already.

UPDATE: Diaz reportedly has a clause in his contract that allows him to make his full money from the fight and walk after Chimaev missed weight, but it’s possible he’d be open to a Ferguson fight.

We’ll see if UFC can salvage its PPV card, but right now at least Diaz knows he’s getting paid while everything else is in limbo.