Josh Thomson and John McCarthy React To Khamzat Chimaev’s Missed Weight At UFC 279

Josh Thomson and "Big" John McCarthy react to the failed weight cut by Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279.

Josh Thomson John McCarthy

Josh Thomson and John McCarthy have lost respect for Khamzat Chimaev after failing to make weight. 

In the aftermath of the UFC 279 event, there has been a lot of talk about what is next for the winners and the losers. Prior to the event, it seemed that perhaps the outcomes would fit nicely in the grand scheme of the UFC divisional matchups, but after Khazmat Chimaev missed weight this got a bit blurry. Due to the missed weight, the three top fights on the card received shake-ups. Chimaev fought Kevin Holland, Tony Ferguson stepped to face Nate Diaz, and Li Jingliang fought Daniel Rodriguez. The missed weight by Chimaev really had a snowball effect on the card and left a bad taste in the mouths of many fans. 

Josh Thomson and John McCarthy feel Chimaev could have done more to make weight at UFC 279

Two men who did not think Chimaev did all he could to make weight are former UFC fighter Josh Thomson and MMA referee turned commentator John McCarthy. They discussed Chimaev on their YouTube Podcast called Weighing In.

“The things that happened over this last week, that’s the kind of person I am, I take it personal, like you kind of disrespected the craft of what we do. It was very unprofessional,” Thomson said.  “Look, if you would have missed it by a pound or two, I even say maybe three pounds. I get it yet. Maybe your knee was banged up during training but it was eight and a half eight pounds if you think about because it was seven and a half over but you get that pound allowance. It was eight and a half pounds. That’s very unprofessional.”

Chimeav said following his first-round submission win over Holland that the UFC’s doctor stopped him from cutting weight and that is why he came in so heavy. This excuse did not sit well with McCarthy or Thomson. 

“Don’t blame the doctor,” McCarthy said. “It’s all on Chimaev.”

Between the two men, they have been around the sport of mixed martial arts for many years. They know firsthand how difficult it is to make weight for a fight, and also know that sacrifices need to be made to do so. This was the first time Chimaev ever missed weight in his professional career, but has also competed at middleweight on some occasions. 

“This is one of those situations where he knew he wasn’t gonna make the weight. You can blame the doctor all you want but how many times have we seen Gleison Tibau and Aspen Ladd get carried to the fucking scale? They’re getting walked up there by their corners,” Thomson said. “We didn’t see that. He understood he wasn’t gonna make the weight he gave up. That’s just in bad taste. That’s very unprofessional and so I lost a lot of respect for him.”

The future is unclear for Chimaev who was close to receiving a title shot at welterweight before the failed weight cut. He did state in his post-fight interview, that he would be interested in fighting at both welterweight and middleweight going forward, 

Published on September 12, 2022 at 10:53 am
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