UFC 279: Khamzat Chimaev says, “Fighting just for fun, eats unranked gangsters like Nate Diaz for breakfast.”
Khamzat Chimaev is full of confidence ahead of his battle against Nate Diaz, pledging to devour the UFC veteran for breakfast.
Nate Diaz will fight Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of the UFC 279 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sept. 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight is scheduled for five rounds and will be Diaz’s last fight under his UFC contract. You could say that Khamzat Chimaev is the scariest new fighter to join the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the last few years.
The Chechen superstar won two fights in ten days, shattering the promotion’s record for the quickest back-to-back victories inside the Octagon. While he’s had some health issues since then, it hasn’t stopped him from picking up three more convincing victories to put him in an absolutely favorable position in the welterweight class.
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Chimaev confesses he appreciates Diaz and grew up watching the fan favourite, who has competed in the UFC for almost 15 years. ‘Borz’ has pledged to make Diaz’s farewell song into funeral.
“I am happy he’s fighting with me, he is one of the legends. One of the people that everyone calls a gangster but we are going to show who is the gangster. Like I said before we are from Chechnya… we grew up in the war. We eat the gangsters for breakfast,” explained Khazmat Chimaev.
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“Actually I don’t need to fight Diaz but I fight that guy for just fun,” Chimaev told reporters. “I was like a kid when he was fighting. I could wait for the title, I’m just waiting. I’m in Top 3 and just have to wait but I took that fight, that guy’s not top but he’s famous, everyone loves him, everyone talks about this gangster, that shit. I eat the gangster for the breakfast. Gonna f**k that guy up,” he added.
It is not an overstatement to state that this is one of the most important fights of the year, not only for the UFC, but for all of mixed martial arts. Diaz is aiming to go out on a high note as he prepares to explore the seas of free agency, whilst Chimaev knows that another resounding win would almost surely get him a crack at the UFC welterweight title. Khamzat is clearly the favourite, but overlooking someone like Nate Diaz at the highest level may be disastrous.
“I still don’t believe that guy’s going to come and show up,” Chimaev told reporters.“That skinny boy. We will see what’s happening. I’m just waiting for the 10th of September – it doesn’t matter who. If he wants to fight at 185lb, then we can do that… just show up. I can fight at 185 or 205lb, it doesn’t matter,” he added.
Diaz, who turned 37 in April, fell to 20-13 after losing a unanimous decision to Edwards at UFC 263 in June 2021. It was the second straight defeat for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5 champion, who has now lost three of his previous four fights.
Chimaev, 28, extended his perfect record to 11-0 by defeating former championship contender Gilbert Burns in a “Fight of the Night” battle at UFC 273 in April. The victory over “Durinho” propelled Khazmat to third place in the official welterweight rankings.
