Khamzat Chimaev’s surge through the UFC welterweight division has not let him short on opponents. He hasn’t booked his next fight, but he is hoping to see Nate Diaz inside the Octagon before Diaz retires. On the Blockparty podcast, Chimaev described how he had been angling for a Nate Diaz fight for a while.
“No, it’s never been close [to a done deal].
The skinny boy, when I said let’s fight, I was good weight, good shape, and now I’ve been lifting weights, I go up like three kilos. Now he says let’s fight.
He was thinking, is August too early to cut weight? I don’t care, I’m going to cut my weight and fight with him if he’s ready. I’ll smash that boy. He won’t be the same Diaz anymore.”
Nate Diaz, for his part, took to Twitter to dismiss the claim, describing how Khamzat’s own issues prevented the pair from facing one another in the Octagon.
Khamzat Promises To “Smash That Boy” Nate Diaz
“I’ve been trying to fight for a year and months. I also tried to fight Khamzat for the last month and a half but he was hurt, had visa issues, overweight and now his b**** ass is off getting married instead of fighting.
I’m trying to get a fight with a real fighter ASAP/July. [Let’s f****** go].”
Khamzat Chimaev, however, remains unfazed. Chimaev is undefeated, not only in the UFC but across his entire career. His fearsome reputation is built around a penchant for early finishes, often fuelled by his aggressive wrestling and striking. His last UFC appearance was a barnstorming fight against Gilbert Burns, which marked his first time going the distance in the UFC, and may well be fight of the year for 2022.
With that in mind, Khamzat Chimaev has good reason to be confident. In fact, he’s so confident that he wants not one Diaz, but two. He’d be happy to take on both Nate and Nick Diaz given the opportunity.
“The Diaz fight is good for us, but skinny boy is scared, and he didn’t answer.
We will see. Belal [Muhammad] said yes. I don’t care. I’ll fight everyone. Let Leon [Edwards] fight with [Kamaru] Usman, who wins there, I’ll go for his head. I’ll take his head and take the money.
I can take [Nate Diaz’s] brother as well, [Nick Diaz]. I’ll take his f****** brother and we can smash him, too.”
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