UFC 328 is less than 24 hours away, with the main event fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland for the UFC Middleweight Championship officially on as both men made the championship weight limit, or did they? 

Fight fans everywhere have analyzed Chimaev’s weigh-in and believe that something wasn’t quite right. The champion barely made 185 pounds with less than 20 minutes to go until his allotted time limit expired, and while he looked drained and dejected (as do most fighters after cutting weight), it was announced that Chimaev weighed in at exactly 185 pounds. This footage didn’t sit right with a lot of people, including current UFC bantamweight Bryce Mitchell, who even took to Instagram to express his frustrations on how the upcoming title fight is already rigged in favor of Chimaev.

Khamzat Chimaev just made weight with only 20 minutes to spare 👀

DC: “He looks pretty dejected, man. He’s hurting. He’s miserable. He looks so skinny.” pic.twitter.com/bKLjV1NLar

— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) May 8, 2026

Mitchell stated that the scales weren’t balanced and that there was no way that Chimaev could have made 185 pounds, which in his mind makes Strickland the unofficial champion already. Mitchell also brought up Chimaev’s previous weigh-in controversy where he weighed seven-and-a-half pounds over the welterweight limit to fight Nate Diaz at UFC 279, which ended up being the night where Chimaev was allowed to nearly move up to middleweight the day of his newly scheduled fight.

Strickland himself has called Chimaev out at the ceremonial weigh-in, outright claiming Chimaev to be a coward who didn’t make the weight.