Haji explained the reason for Chimaev's defeat to Strickland: The team's mistake affected functional readiness

Russian MMA promoter Kamil Hajiyev has revealed the main reason for Khamzat Chimaev's defeat to Sean Strickland in the UFC middleweight title fight.

Idman.Biz reports that Hajiyev stated that Chimaev's team made a serious mistake before the fight. According to him, allowing the fighter to lose the last two kilograms negatively affected functional readiness.

The promoter said in a conversation with Magomed Ismailov that although Chimaev made the weight limit, his condition was clearly visible after the second round. According to Hajiyev, if Chimaev had not lost those two kilograms, he could have won, even if the fight was not for the title.

Hajiyev believes that Chimaev's more stand-up fighting in the third, fourth, and fifth rounds was more due to a lack of physical strength than a tactical choice. In his opinion, Chimaev did not have enough energy left for wrestling.

However, Hajiyev himself said that he assessed the fight in Chimaev's favor. He said that he gave the first, fourth and fifth rounds to Chimaev, and the second round to Strickland. Regarding the third round, he noted that he agreed with the American's superiority.

It should be noted that the Chimaev-Strickland fight was the main event of the UFC 328 tournament. In the title fight, Strickland won by split decision of the judges, and Chimaev lost the UFC middleweight belt.