Joe Rogan says he heard Khamzat Chimaev lost too much weight before Sean Strickland defeat
Rogan said he had heard Chimaev was preparing to move up to 205lb and challenge for the belt, and does not think he was given enough time to get back down for the Strickland fight.
Joe Rogan says weight is a more likely explanation for Khamzat Chimaev's defeat to Sean Strickland than Strickland's game plan, though he made clear his view rested on something he had heard.
Speaking on the JRE MMA Show, Rogan said: "I think Khamzat lost too much weight. That's what I had heard. I had heard he had given up on 185 and wanted to go up to 205 and challenge for the belt, and was training and preparing for that."
Rogan said Chimaev was then offered "a big-money fight with Strickland" and decided to take it. "But I don't think they gave him a lot of time," he said, adding that Chimaev gets so big that he needs a lot of time to get down to 185lb.
"That makes more sense to me than Strickland having the perfect anti-Chimaev game," Rogan said.
Strickland took the UFC middleweight title from Chimaev by split decision at UFC 328 in Newark on 9 May, with scores of 48-47, 48-47 and 47-48.
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