Khamzat Chimaev is willing to fight at any weight with Nate Diaz providing his rival shows up to their UFC meeting.
Chimaev and Diaz are set to meet in the octagon on September 11 at the T-Mobile Aren a in Las Vegas, with Diaz finally finding an opponent for the final fight on his UFC contract. The Chechen star is considered the overwhelming favourite for the fight, having continued his surging rise with victory over Gilbert Burns last time out.
Many people have warned Diaz that he could face an extreme uphill battle to gain any victory against Chimaev, who is currently ranked in third position at 170lb. However Chimaev has admitted he is excited for the fight with Diaz still capable of posing danger to his undefeated streak. “I still don’t believe that guy’s going to come and show up,” Chimaev admitted when discussing the fight on The MMA Hour .
“That skinny boy. We will see what’s happening. I’m just waiting for the 10th of September – it doesn’t matter who. If he wants to fight 185lb, then we can do that. just show up. I can fight at 185lb or 205lb, it doesn’t matter. “For me, it doesn’t actually matter. If they give me Kamaru Usman, I will do the same thing. The guy just fights and fights. He’s still dangerous. He fights to the last second, and I’m happy he’s fighting with me.
“He’s one of the legends, like everyone saying, ‘gangster, gangster.’ I’m going to show who’s the gangster. Like I said before, we’re from Chechnya, we grew up with the war, and we eat the gangsters for breakfast. When my manager told me it’s done, I said that’s good, that’s perfect for us. Make money, make good names, the guy’s going out. Nate said he doesn’t like me. I like that guy, I grew up watching him."
Diaz has been embroiled in a lengthy feud with the UFC as he waited for several months to discover his opponent for a final fight. The American held talks with a number of opponents including Dustin Poirier and Vicente Luque, but a fight failed to materialise until recently when Chimaev stepped forward.
Who are you backing to win - Khamzat Chimaev or Nate Diaz? Let us know in the comments section below
He made an emotional plea to be released from his deal which eventually saw the fight confirmed after the match-up was initially leaked in the UFC's organisational 'war room'. Now the fight is confirmed, Chimaev has claimed he will not fight to any game plan and is planning to end the bout within the first two rounds.
“I will go to the fight and I do exactly the same I did in the sparring, and sometimes it’s take him down, submit him," Chimaev said. "Then I understand I have to do it in the cage as well when I come to the fight. This is my game plan, but you don’t see me, like, ‘Oh, he does this, he does that, he jabs like this, and this s***.’ I don’t believe in game plan or this s***. You fight like you fight. One round, two rounds."
