Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz were originally headlining UFC 279. Chimaev missed weight by 7.5lbs, causing a seismic change to the top three bouts. Chimaev insisted that he “would have killed [Nate] and been in jail” had he squared off against the veteran.
How did Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz perform at UFC 279?
After Chimaev didn’t make weight, he was matched with Kevin Holland in a catchweight bout. Chimaev made quick work of Holland, submitting him in the first round. Diaz also won his fight against UFC veteran Tony Ferguson via submission.
Many fans across the MMA community praised the UFC for re-booking the card, with a “super fight” main event. Fans said that Chimaev vs Diaz was a huge mismatch. With Diaz coming in on a losing streak and Chimaev on a huge winning streak, fans dubbed this fight as “feeding Diaz to the wolves”.
After Nate’s performance against Tony Ferguson. Khamzat claims Nate’s showing wasn’t impressive and gave his thoughts on the fight.
Khamzat’s thoughts on the main event
Chimaev stated after the main event, “If I fight him, I would kill him. I would be in jail. Did you see that fight? How they kick, how they punch, how they wrestle, how they grapple? I’m the young guy. I’m a killer. I understand these guys are from the USA and the crowd like them. But make this fight in my country. You will never find a guy that likes Diaz’ name there. If they do, we kill them”.
Khamzat alleges that doctors prevented him from cutting weight due to health concerns and cramping. He insisted in his post-fight interview that he could have made weight, if he had been allowed to.
Chimaev also said that he wants to go for both welterweight and middleweight titles. Insisting that he could make weight for both divisions. Khamzat also mentioned a possible third championship goal at light heavyweight. Stating “we’ll see what my coaches say, I’ll listen to him. If he says welterweight, then we do that. If he says light- heavyweight, then we will do that”.
The sky appears to be the limit for the Chechen prospect. Whatever fight he is in next, it’s guaranteed to be fireworks.
Fearured image credits to Embed from Getty Images and Embed from Getty Images
