Conor McGregor believes Khamzat Chimaev should be withdrawn from UFC 279 and left to "starve" after missing weight.
Chimaev was set to face McGregor's former two-time rival Nate Diaz on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but the fight was shelved after he missed the 171lb weight limit. The Chechen star tipped the scales at 178.5lb - 7.5lb over the limit - and will instead face Kevin Holland in the night's co-main event.
Despite being a long way off meeting his target weight, Chimaev met the news with grins on the scales while saluting the crowd and uttered "not bad" despite putting the fight in jeopardy. In response, UFC superstar McGregor issued a warning to other fighters on social media, tweeting: "My opinion is that they should have pulled Khamzat from the card entirely.
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"Reconfiguring bouts, and with a more favourable bout for the failed cutter, will only make many others in the game follow suit. The smirks on the scale where enough for me. Pull from the card and starve. McG UFC."
Chimaev was not upset by the news that he had failed to make weight and even flipped a finger at the crowd after being booed back on to the scales when stepping on them for a second time for his fight with Holland.
Chimaev was given more time to make the weight before the fight was shelved, but was later advised by the UFC's medical staff to cut no more over concerns for his health. Despite failing to meet the target, Chimaev was handed the opportunity to meet Diaz at a catchweight, which his rival declined before the bout with Holland was made for earlier on the card.
His actions had already been under scrutiny after he sparked a mass brawl backstage at the press conference earlier in the week, which was cancelled after 100 people became involved when he kicked new rival Holland. Although he missed weight, UFC chiefs have refused to issue punishment to Chimaev, with other fighters on the card deducted a percentage of their purse after missing their weight limits.
Diaz will now face Tony Ferguson, who stepped up to salvage a five-round main event on short notice. Diaz has now admitted he is underprepared after Chimaev's actions but trains himself face anybody in the Octagon. "It's all a mess. It's f***ing irritating," Diaz told ESPN.
"It's all a mess I don't even know how to fight this guy [Ferguson] and I haven't watched any videos of him. But it doesn't matter anyway because I train for everybody.
"It for sure makes me happy that I am not supporting this bull**** they have been trying to push on me the whole time. This guy is like a Laker playing in the major league. I will never fight him [Chimaev] I'll fight him right now if I could f***ing find his b**** a**."
