"Sometimes we don't like each other before the fight, it's all normal" - Khamzat Chimaev open to welcome Kevin Holland to his gym now that "war" is over
Khamzat Chimaev and Kevin Holland were infamously involved in a scuffle backstage at the UFC's pre-fight press conference. The melee contributed to the presser being canceled, a first for the promotion. Footage of the incident has since been released by ESPN and fans can put their imaginations to rest by trying to speculate what happened.
The Chimaev-Holland beef began way back in 2021, with the two fighters being involved in an incident at the fighter hotel. 'Borz' claims to have grabbed 'Trailblazer' by the throat but no footage was captured.
Although the pair have had a turbulent past, Chimaev seems to have put all of the drama behind him. 'Borz' spoke to the media following his impressive victory over Holland and was asked how he felt about 'squashing the beef' with 'Trailblazer'. The Chechen-born Swede replied by saying:
"Sometimes we don't like each other before the fight, it's all normal. Like, we're coming for the war, to kill each other. Now this war over, if he wants, he can come to my gym, be one of us and he's nice guy, good guy, tough guy."
Watch the interview below:
It will be intriguing to see if 'Trailblazer' takes Khamzat Chimaev up on his offer to train together. With Darren Till already a close training partner of 'Borz', adding another eccentric personality like Holland to the mix could make for quality entertainment.
Khamzat Chimaev claims he offered to give Nate Diaz his fight purse after missing weight to keep the fight alive
Khamzat Chimaev missed weight by a staggering 7.5lbs for his fight with Nate Diaz. As a result, the Stockton native declined the fight. The UFC worked their magic and were able to reorganize the last three fights on the card.
Chimaev was paired up with Kevin Holland in the co-main event, and he needed less than three minutes to submit him. 'Borz' was interviewed by Megan Olivi after his victory and the topic of him missing weight was brought up. The 28-year-old said:
"I could make the weight, the doctor stopped that sh*t so what I could do? I was waiting what UFC said. So I said, 'I wanna fight.' So I give all my money to the guy [Diaz], it was almost $2 million. I said, 'Give all my money to the guy, let him fight. If he's that gangster, he should fight for money.' But he didn't wanna fight me."
Watch the interview below from 1:10:
It is an incredible claim for Khamzat Chimaev to make that he offered the better part of his $2 million fight purse to Nate Diaz, but he has no real reason to lie. One wonders if Diaz will choose to respond.