Calling Islam Makhachev a “weight bully” was indeed one of Colby Covington’s gravest mistakes. This greatly enraged the lightweight champion. But now that he plans on moving to the welterweight realm, Makhachev found an excuse to take on ‘Chaos’. He even hinted at taking retirement if a fight against Covington doesn’t happen. But when ‘Chaos’ brought Khabib Nurmagomedov into the picture, Makhachev stood tall to defend his coach, friend, and cornerman. 

In an interview on Match TV, the interviewer pointed out Covington’s words that criticized Nurmagomedov and Makhachev for cutting too much weight. According to the interviewer, ‘Chaos’ back in 2023, had said, “Khabib and Islam were squeezing chromosomes out of their bodies during their weight cut. These guys are huge lightweights. They are bigger than me, even though I fight in a higher weight class.” What does the lightweight champ have to say about it?

Needless to say, the lightweight champion wasn’t going to let the welterweight contender disrespect him and his mentor. He decided to bash Covington taking his trash-talking habit into account. Makhachev said, “First, let’s describe who Colby is. A man who can’t prove anything with his fights, but tries to be well known with his mouth. This is what he does. He doesn’t talk about fighters who are not in the Top 15. He talks about fighters who have already achieved a lot to be well-known. I think he’s one of the masters of trash talk.” 

Makhachev went on to defend the Dagestani team’s weight cut by giving the example of Kamaru Usman. The former welterweight champion weighed more than 198 pounds. The Makhachkala-born fighter usually weighed a maximum of around 180 pounds. That was when the interviewer asked if Covington’s words bothered the Dagestani champ. 

Without wasting a single moment, Makhachev replied, “No. Why should it bother me? It would be understandable if it were someone [who is a good fighter]. But when a person can’t fight normally, but still talks about me, it doesn’t bother me.” 

To add to the drama, the 36-year-old welterweight contender was the one standing between Makhachev and his road to becoming a double champion in the UFC. Even though he now believes that ‘Chaos’ wasn’t a good fighter, there was a time when he thought a matchup against the Californian would be pretty interesting. But that’s a story for another time. For now, let’s stick to the Dagestani team’s troubles with weight cuts. 

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s troubles with cutting weight

Weight cutting often troubled ‘The Eagle’ back when he was competing in the UFC. There was a time when he even had to pull out of a fight and seek medical attention because of it. Yes indeed! Nurmagomedov was forced to leave Tony Ferguson hanging alone before their slated fight at UFC 209 because he was hospitalized. 

The trend was similar for UFC 229, as Nurmagomedov got ready to face Conor McGregor. Talking to Russian TV station Channel 1, the former undefeated lightweight champ said, “The day before the fight I did not sleep at all. I had weight loss and I felt very bad. I was having seizures and I felt very ill.” Needless to say, McGregor wasn’t letting his rival’s weight-cutting controversies go. After the Dagestani announced his retirement, ‘The Notorious’ took to IG and shared a picture of them from a long time ago. In the captions, he wrote, “Remember folks, if you hate cutting weight so much, all you have to do is move up a division. God bless.”

The Dagestani team’s weight-cutting is indeed a scary business. The teammates tend to wrap the fighters up in warm clothes and blankets so as to induce sweating. This makes the fighters lose water weight. On top of that, they have a strict calorie-deficit diet and go pretty low on water intake. No doubt, this trend often leaves the fighters severely dehydrated. Before fighting Justin Gaethje, ‘The Eagle’ decided to share visuals of how his weight cut was done. Although he did win the fight against Gaethje, he attracted quite some attention while preparing for the fight. Why? Well, he was so weak that he could barely stand up straight. 

UFC 254 was also subjected to controversy, as the netizens still doubt the legitimacy of Nurmagomedov’s weigh-in. The UFC’s scale was set to 155 pounds. This meant that the grey bar would bang against the black bar placed at the 155-pound mark. And if the fighter weighs within the permitted range, the grey bar would simply float from its base and below the black bar. But even after dropping off his clothes, Nurmagomedov’s weight caused the grey bar to touch the black one. Nevertheless, the Dagestani was relieved when he thought he made weight and went on to fight Gaethje.

But how did the Dagestani manage to win despite going through such severe changes in his body? Nurmagomedov’s reply simply pointed at his psychological attitude. He believed that if a fighter wasn’t prepared mentally, his/her physical training wouldn’t help them in their fights. While that’s not wrong at all, extreme weight cuts can indeed cause severe harm to the body. And it should be done under proper guidance. 

What do you think of the Dagestani team’s weight cuts? Drop down to the comments below and let the conversation flow.