T.J. Dillashaw believes Khamzat Chimaev underperformed in his title loss at UFC 328, but still feels the former middleweight champion did enough to defeat Sean Strickland.
Chimaev (15-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) lost the UFC middleweight title earlier this month after dropping a split decision to Strickland (31-7 MMA, 18-7 UFC) at Newark’s Prudential Center. The result sparked debate among fans and analysts, with many questioning whether Strickland had done enough to earn the victory.
Dillashaw, who worked closely with Chimaev during his training camp, addressed the fight during an interview with MMA Fighting this week and argued that Chimaev should have had his hand raised despite what he described as a disappointing performance.
“I thought he won at least three rounds, with the fourth round even being close, right?” Dillashaw said. “It was not a robbery, I've said that multiple times. It was a close fight due to Khamzat's underperformance. Massive underperformance, and that's why Sean don't want to fight him again. Sean knows, like, ‘Oh, I escaped this one. Like, okay, cool.’ Because he felt the first round, and it would have been continuously that.”
According to Dillashaw, Chimaev battled through severe physical issues related to his weight cut leading into the championship bout.
“He should not have made it to the fight,” Dillashaw said. “And to see how he performed still, round five, round four, he still had the better fighting cardio than Strickland. And Strickland's supposed to be a cardio guy, (but) Khamzat’s the one going forward and landing the bigger shots, right? Sean won a fight going backwards throwing a jab? I don't see it that way.”
Dillashaw went on to praise Chimaev’s toughness, claiming the fighter endured extreme conditions simply to make it to fight night.
“It makes me realize how tough Khamzat is to do as well as he did (after) almost dying before getting on that scale,” Dillashaw continued. “Like I'm saying almost dying. The stories that I heard (about his weight cut) were crazy.”
The former bantamweight champion also pointed to Chimaev’s medical issues as a major factor in the difficult cut to 185 pounds.
“People need to understand what he pushed through to fight. It's impressive,” Dillashaw said. “The guy's got half a thyroid…do your research and understand what that does to your metabolism. That's why weight cuts are hard for him, and he just needs to do it the right way.”
Despite the setback, Dillashaw believes Chimaev should remain at middleweight and attempt to reclaim the title before considering a move to light heavyweight.
“I think he needs to get his 185-pound title back before going back up or even deciding to go 205,” Dillashaw said. “He was only 16 pounds over showing up to fight week. That is easy.”
Dillashaw explained that the issue was not the amount of weight Chimaev had to lose, but rather how the cut was managed.
“But it's about the water displacement,” Dillashaw added. “I know when I'm 15 pounds over on Sunday going into that week, I'm 15 pounds over and I'm hydrated, drinking the water I'm supposed to drink, (then) I made weight. It's easy after that. Now it's just water displacement. Unfortunately, they didn't do that.”
