Kamaru Usman’s recent call out of Khamzat Chimaev to fight at a catchweight has caught Dana White’s attention, however the UFC President is not interested in the potential matchup if it takes place at anything but 185 pounds.
In an interview with The Jim Rowe Show on Thursday, White made his stance on catchweights clear: “I don’t do catchweights I don’t like catchweights Catchweights mean nothing They mean absolutely nothing If Usman wants to move up to 185 and fight Chimaev we could talk about it But trying to fight him at a catchweight I’m not interested in.”
White’s comments come after former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman floated the idea of facing off against surging star Khamzat Chimaev this week. Usman pitched that he would be willing to potentially move up in weight class from 170lbs (welterweight) up to 185lbs (middleweight), presumably meaning he would challenge Chimaev for his planned October return date at Abu Dhabi.
The 29-year old Russian born fighter known as ‘Borz’ had missed weight by 7.5 pounds for his scheduled main event bout against Nate Diaz last September, which caused multiple fights needing reshuffling around – leading some fans wondering whether or not a long-term jump upwards is necessary for health reasons. Whether or not this was what prompted Usman’s call out remains unclear, though the two were competing on separate cards back then and have yet to meet inside the octagon since both fighters joined the UFC ranks .
Chimaev hasn’t competed since his first round submission win over Kevin Holland in September either – so a matchup between these two explosive prospects could prove entertaining should it happen – although White’s take regarding any sort of ‘catchweight’ negotiations seems firm unless one party decides upon moving up divisions permanently ahead of time.
It remains unclear whether either man will agree upon this condition set forward by Dana White, with their respective camps yet to publicly comment – only time will tell if they decide that they can indeed settle their differences within different weight classes!
Comments:
You must be blind
I can’t believe you don’t see the logic in Usman fighting at 170
He’s the real champ and he’s going to prove it no matter what weight class
Who cares if Chimaev is ready for a fight? It should never have been an option in the first place
Are you serious? The only way this matchup makes sense is if Usman gets to stay at 170 and Chimaev moves up. Anything else would be unfair – why should Usman take on someone who has such a huge size advantage?
That doesn’t make any sense – Usman is small for 185, but large for 170. A fair fight requires both fighters to be on equal footing, not with one having such an enormous edge over the other.
This isn’t even about what Dana White said. There’s nothing wrong with taking some time off before facing Chimaev – that’s common practice among top athletes