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‘He looked like a skeleton’: Michael Chandler on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s nervy moment at the weigh-ins of UFC 254

Prateek Arya
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"I'd love to fight Nate Diaz at 170 [pounds] instead of 155", Micheal Chandler keen on a welterweight battle with Nate Diaz

Michael Chandler, who was put on hold for the Khabib Vs. Gaethje fight, used some strong words to describe Khabib Nurmagomedov’s weight cut.

Contrary to his in-ring performance at the main event of UFC 254, a day before the event, at the weigh-ins Khabib Nurmagomedov apparently did not cut out a confident figure. As he hit the defined mark, the world witnessed the Lightweight champion taking a sigh of relief, which was seemingly unusual. Later on, it was reported by Khabib’s coach Javier Mendez that Nurmagomedov did not faced any issues with the weight cut.

However, irrespective of whether it was a hard weight cut or there was any other concern in the mind of Khabib, or simply there wasn’t anything, what happened at the following day was nothing short of iconic.

While Khabib and Justin Gaethje were the chief protagonists of the fight, another fighter who travelled along and was the reserve man for the headliner fight-Michael Chandler-observed everything from start to finish, and has now spoken about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s UFC 254 weigh-in stage image.

Also read: ‘You lost your last fight and then quit the sport’: Jon Jones Hits Back At Daniel Cormier

Michael Chandler on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s weight cut

Speaking on Theo Von’s podcast, Michael Chandler reflected on Khabib’s weight cut, and said “He looked like a skeleton.” Chandler, who also successfully hit the 155-pound mark was evidently not impressed with Khabib’s attitude.

“At the weigh-ins it was questionable whether he’d made weight. Like dude, be a professional make the weight. Show up with your chest puffed out, with a smile on your face, do your job.”

After the weigh-in session ended there were speculations about an inaccuracy that might have taken place, while weighing Khabib, however, nothing concrete ever came out.

Paying heed on the same, Chandler stated, “I will say, I will say, Daniel Cormier brought this up, and it is true, at the hotel I had to step on the scale and I weighed 154.9, and then they said you can get on the bus. So, if I was 155.2 or whatever there, they might have been like, no you can’t get on the bus until you cut weight. Then again maybe Khabib was like, I’m right at 155.1, by the time I get over there I can float .1…. But he stepped on the scale it was going up and they swiped it.”

Chandler also expressed his views on whether he thinks there was something non transparent with the weigh-in process. “They have been doing this for 26, 27 years, there hasn’t been many controversies so whatever. It wasn’t meant to be for him to step inside the cage, nor would I have. If Khabib didn’t make weight at that moment he would’ve got time to cut weight anyway. So, I wasn’t worried about it.”

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