Zubaira Takhugov, Khabib’s teammate has his bout against Lucas Almedia CALLED OFF for UFC 280
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Zubaira Takhugov (L), Lucas Almeida (R)
A lot was made of the principal narratives heading into UFC 280.
One of them was the doubt as to whether Charles Oliveira, who had previously been stripped of the title against Justin Gaethje, could make the 155 pound mark again.
And he did, exactly that. He weighed in at 154.5 pounds. However, a new report claims that this time, it is actually one of Khabib’s teammates, Zubaira Takhugov, whose bout against Lucas Almeida has been called off just a day before fight night, owing to weight concerns
The reason for this announcement is down to ”weight management issues” – in simpler words, the inability to cut to 145 pounds. Zubaira Takhugov has one of the most brutal weight cuts in the UFC – he usually cuts around 40 pounds.
This comes at a bad time for Takhugov. At 31, he is unraked in the featherweight division. Although he still probably has around four to five years left in his prime, he cannot afford to be missing weight, leading to fight cancellations.
A quick look at Takhugov’s record shows that he has never made a firm impression on the rankings, despite being on UFC’s roster for more than eight years.
In Lucas Almeida, Takhugov would have taken on a relatively new addition to the UFC’s roster, having just one win – over Michael Triziano, in June.
Related- Khabib Nurmagomedov reveals that wrestling Zubaira Tukhugov gave him a ‘limp’
This is not the first time Team Khabib has struggled with weight
Almost ironically, it feels like Team Khabib’s questions marks regarding Charles Oliveira’s ability to make weight have circled right back at them. Thankfully, Islam Makhachev, one-half of the UFC 280 main event, made weight without issues.
Khabib Nurmagomedov was considered a relatively big lightweight for the 155 pound division. He was all muscle, so making the dehydrating cuts meant there was only a little fat to cut, but a lot of muscle mass to lose.
In 2013, Nurmagomedov missed weight against Abel Trujillo at UFC 160. He was supposed to come in at the 156 pound mark – that is, if a fighter is not contesting a championship bout, they are given an extra pound above the division’s normal weight as a threshold. Failing to meet the mark, he came in at 158.5 pounds – 2.5 pounds over the limit.
Similarly, the now retired icon struggled immensely against the scale in his last fight at UFC 254, where he beat Justin Gaethje. A clearly dehydrated Nurmagomedov had to strip and weigh in, his modesty being shielded only by a towel.
Despite the bad news for their camp, the fervour will stay high, as their talisman Islam Makhachev takes on Charles Oliveira tomorrow, in a bid to restore Dagestani dominance to the lightweight division.
Also Read- WATCH: Sean O’Malley gets shoved by FURIOUS Petr Yan at UFC 280 press conference
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Udayan Mukherjee
(382 Articles Published)