"Nobody gonna say Diaz's name there" - Khamzat Chimaev says Nate Diaz's personality won't fly in his homeland Chechnya
Khamzat Chimaev was set to take on Nate Diaz at UFC 279, who fought the last fight of his UFC contract this weekend.
Despite a lot of build-up around the UFC 279 headliner event, the fight could not come to fruition after 'Borz' was unable to make weight.
As a result, the Chechen-born Swede was removed from the headliner and was instead matched up against Kevin Holland at a catchweight of 180lbs. Nate Diaz was matched up with Tony Ferguson, who was fighting on the same card at welterweight and stepped in as a last-minute replacement for Chimaev.
Now that UFC 279 is done and dusted with both Diaz and Chimaev choking their opponents out, 'Borz' still isn't impressed with Diaz's performance.
When asked about the Diaz vs. Ferguson fight at the UFC 279 post-fight presser, the 28-year-old welterweight had this to say:
"Did you see that fight? How they kick, how they punch, how they wrestle, how they grapple, do you see? The guys are old.”
Speaking further, Khamzat Chimaev also claimed that Diaz's personality only shines in his homeland and definitely not in Chechnya:
"I’m a young guy. I’m the killer. I don’t understand what the people are talking about. This guy is from USA, this is his home. Guys like him. OK, make that f****** fight in my country. You will see. You will never find some guy who likes Diaz there. Nobody going to say Diaz’s name there. If they say it, they will kill them, so what now?”
You can check out the UFC 279 post-conference below:
Khamzat Chimaev wanted to fight Diaz despite missing weight; claimed he offered to give Nate Diaz his fight purse
Khamzat Chimaev could not enter the octagon against Nate Diaz after missing weight by almost 7.5lbs during the official weigh-ins.
In his post-fight interview, 'Borz' revealed that he still wanted to fight Diaz despite the weight miss, and stated that he was willing to give up his entire fight purse.
Speaking to Megan Olivi of ESPN MMA, the welterweight 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."
You can check out Khamzat Chimaev's interview below: