Khamzat Chimaev is not short of confidence ahead of his fight with Nate Diaz having vowed to eat the UFC veteran for breakfast.
In the final fight of his UFC contract, Diaz takes on rising star Chimaev at UFC 279 on September 10. Many fans were critical of the match-up when it was announced last week, with Chimaev being on the brink of a welterweight title shot whilst Diaz is without a win in almost three years.
Chimaev admits he respects Diaz and grew up watching the fan-favourite, who has been fighting in the UFC for over 15 years. 'Borz' has promised to turn Diaz's swan song into a " funeral " whilst also stating: "I am happy he's fighting with me, he is one of the legends. One of the people that everyone calls a gangster but we are going to show who is the gangster. Like I said before we are from Chechnya… we grew up in the war. We eat the gangsters for breakfast," he said on The MMA Hour.
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Chimaev jumped to No.3 in the welterweight rankings following his hard-fought win against Gilbert Burns in April. 'Borz' was linked to a fight with former interim champion Colby Covington after the win, but leaked UFC matchups showed he and Diaz were slated to meet at UFC 276 earlier this month. Despite the fight being official, Chimaev explained why he isn't confident that Diaz will show up on September 10.
“I still don’t believe that guy’s going to come and show up,” Chimaev added. “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 at 185lb, then we can do that... just show up. I can fight at 185 or 205lb, it doesn’t matter.”
Chimaev reflected on the booking against Diaz by admitting that he grew up watching a lot of the UFC veteran's fights. The Chechen was just 10-years-old when Diaz, who has over 30 professional fights under his belt, made his MMA debut in 2004. When my manager told me it’s done, I said that’s perfect for us,” Chimaev continued.
“Make money, make good names, the guy’s going out. Nate said he doesn’t like me but I like that guy, I grew up on him. I was in school when he was fighting in the UFC. It’s amazing to fight that guy, and I like him because for me UFC, when I was young, it was like the movies. Now, I fight with the guys that I was watching."
