"I want Nate Diaz to ruin the plans" - Belal Muhammad on offering to help train for Khamzat Chimaev fight at UFC 279

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Nate Diaz (left), Belal Muhammad (center), and Khamzat Chimaev (right). [left and right images from Getty Images, center image from YouTube UFC channel]

Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz's imminent main event fight at UFC 279 has prompted a lot of discussion. The two will meet in a welterweight bout that will possibly be Diaz's last fight in the UFC. At the same time, it could be the fight that launches Chimaev's claim to the title.

Fellow welterweight contender Belal Muhammad has offered to help Nate Diaz train for the fight. Upon being asked by Helen Yee what came of his offer, Muhammad responded and backed Diaz:

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"Nah, he never hit me back, I don't know. Nate, I'm in California, now I'm a lot closer. Just come scoop me up, I'll take a long drive with you man. But yeah, for me, it's-- I want Nate [Diaz] to ruin the plans."

'Remember the Name' went on to explain why Diaz had his support:

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"The UFC wants to see Chimaev, he's the bigger name. One of the biggest names in the UFC right now, so they want that Kamaru against him fight. If Nate goes in there and gets dominated like a lot of people are thinking, then they're gonna give it to Chimaev. But Nate goes in there and puts on a fight, he has a chance to win."

For Muhammad, Diaz poses no threat as a fellow contender for the welterweight championship as he is exiting the UFC. However, he would like the UFC and Khamzat Chimaev's plans to foil and delay a title shot for the Russian-born Swede.

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Belal Muhammad wants Nate Diaz to take advantage of Khamzat Chimaev's ego

Belal Muhammad went one step further in trying to aid Nate Diaz by outlining what the American should do to better his chances of a result against Khamzat Chimaev. He said to Yee:

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"I mean Nate doesn't do well against grapplers, strong grapplers. So I think it's one of those where he needs to go out there and get to Chimaev's ego. Start slapping him a little bit, let him get angry, let him wanna box with you. Let him wanna strike with you."

Muhammad advised Diaz to provoke 'Borz' and bring out the ego in him to stand tall and trade strikes, something the former lightweight excels in. He then referenced Chimaev's last fight against Gilbert Burns at UFC 273, saying:

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"Because you saw on the Gilbert Burns fight, where Chimaev will let the ego take over and want to, 'All right, you wanna bang? let's bang!' and his coach is yelling at him in the corner, 'That's not the gameplan!'. Every fighter has that in them, 'You wanna bang, let's bang, let's go for it.' So I think he [Nate Diaz] just needs to get that out of Chimaev."

'Borz' did win that bout against Burns but failed to keep up his streak of finishing every fight in the UFC. Nate Diaz could use that as a start to dictate his approach in his final fight in the promotion.

Check out Belal Muhammad's full comments on Helen Yee Sports:

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