Athletes
Khamzat Chimaev Not Here To Be A Normal Fighter
Welterweight Star Ready To Fight Everyone, Starting With UFC 279 September 10
Editor Note: This article was published prior to the UFC 279: Diaz vs Ferguson event change. Nate Diaz will now fight Tony Ferguson in the main event, Khamzat Chimaev will fight Kevin Holland in a catchweight (180) co-main event and Li Jingliang will fight Daniel Rodriguez in a catchweight (180) bout. | Order UFC 279: Diaz vs Ferguson
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Khamzat Chimaev may only be five fights into his UFC career and competing for the 12th time overall when he battles Nate Diaz this weekend in the UFC 279 pay-per-view main event, but the 28-year-old Chechen-born fighter is already acutely aware of how the media game works.
“People are gonna talk after this fight, as well,” Chimaev said when asked if he feels his win over Gilbert Burns in April silenced the critics that questioned his place in the welterweight division and suggested he was nothing but hype. “They’re gonna say, ‘He didn’t fight no one.’ If I win, they’re gonna say something, as well.
“People are gonna find something all the time. If you’re famous like me, you’re always going to have haters. I understand this game. If you become famous, you make a good life, people are going to hate that. They’re always going to write something on the Internet. They’re always going to say something.
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“How am I going to stop that?” he asked with a laugh. “I can’t stop the whole world.”
Or could he?
While taking on literally everyone on the planet might be too tough an assignment, there hasn’t been a test put before the undefeated rising star that Chimaev hasn’t aced.
He stormed into the UFC on Fight Island, blowing through John Phillips in his promotional debut and instantly requested another fight. The promotion obliged, and 10 days later, “Borz” wiped out a Rhys McKee.
“Because I was happy,” he said when asked about his rapid turnaround two summers ago in Abu Dhabi, where he set the record for the fastest turnaround between two UFC victories. “I was happy I was in the UFC, and the (first) guy, I finished him so easy, didn’t have any (injuries). I took the fight at 84 (kilograms; middleweight), but actually I fight at 77 (kilograms; welterweight). If they asked to fight at 84, 77, I was there.
“At that time, there was a lot of s*** happening with the coronavirus, so guys jumped in and out, and that’s why I asked them,” he added. “Maybe they had a fight for me. I can fight with another man, take two bonuses.”
After blasting through Phillips and McKee, Chimaev made his North American debut in mid-September, needing just 17 seconds to dispatch veteran middleweight Gerald Meerschaert.
Khamzat Chimaev | Best Moments
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Khamzat Chimaev | Best Moments
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A terrible bout of COVID-19 scuttled three different attempts to make a fight with current welterweight champion Leon Edwards and resulted in the streaking talent spending over a year out of action. When he did return on October 30 at UFC 267, Chimaev picked up right where he left off: by picking up his opponent, Li Jingliang, and carrying him over to where UFC President Dana White was seated before slamming him to the canvas and quickly putting him to sleep with a rear-naked choke.
“When I tried to take him down — the guy is not that good, it was so easy,” Chimaev said, recalling his efforts. “I just picked him up, so I said, ‘Let’s go speak with Dana!’ and make some fun. It’s not just ‘take him down, beat him up, and win the fight.’
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“Nobody does that, you know — pick some guy up, Top 11, and speak with Dana. Some throw them down and speak, but I speak when I just pick him up. Not everyone can do this.
“I want to show to Dana, to everyone that I’m not here to be a normal fighter. I’m here to make some history.”
Through his first four fights, Chimaev didn’t just make history — he was damn near perfect.
The Stockton-based welterweight out-struck his opponents 112-1, pitching three consecutive shutouts after allowing Phillips to catch him with a single strike in his promotional debut. For good measure, he added in four takedowns, five submission attempts, and one knockdown, which was actually a knockout.
He spent less than 13 minutes in the Octagon in his first four fights combined, averaging a little over three minutes of work per evening, leading many to wonder how he would handle a longer fight against a tougher opponent.
In April, Chimaev answered that question, going toe-to-toe with former title challenger Gilbert Burns in a hard-fought, grueling battle where each man landed well over 100 significant strikes in the three-round affair.
UFC 279 FREE FIGHTS: Tony Ferguson vs Katsunori Kikuno | Li Jingliang vs Muslim Salikhov | Khamzat Chimaev vs Gilbert Burns | Khamzat Chimaev vs Li Jingliang | Nate Diaz vs Cowboy Cerrone | Nate Diaz vs Conor McGregor
“I could make that fight easy, but I made that fight a dogfight,” he said of the battle with Burns, which took home Fight of the Night honors at UFC 273. “I fought with him (stupidly). Next time, I will make it smarter and make it easy.
“Everyone says he defended takedowns, but I took him down when I wanted,” he added, annoyed at the suggestion that Burns was able to keep the fight standing. “I didn’t want to fight on the ground — I wanted to show my boxing. I told Dana, ‘I’m going to make the fight with my hands, to make it exciting.’”
It was a thrilling fight, and Saturday’s main event pairing with Diaz could be as well.
There was talk of the two facing off last year, but a matchup never materialized. Now, he will step in with Chimaev, who sees this as nothing more than an opportunity to fight another famous fighter, like himself, and make some money; nothing more.
“I want to fight with everyone!” he said incredulously when asked why he jumped at the opportunity to face Diaz on Saturday. “It’s nothing crazy-special about it — it’s fun to fight with that guy, get some money.
“He’s a famous fighter, like me. Gilbert Burns — I made that fight; it was just me hyping up that fight, because nobody knows that guy. I made him famous fighting with him. Diaz is already a famous guy in the UFC. Everyone knows him. Everyone sees his fights, and my fights, as well.
“He’s a tough guy when it comes to the fight,” he said of the 37-year-old Diaz, who nearly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a single clean blow late in his fight with Edwards last summer at UFC 263. “He’s a tough fighter, he fights until the last second, but just toughness is not helping in the cage.”
When asked if a win over Diaz would cement his place as next in line to challenge for the welterweight title, Chimaev made his thoughts about the queue to fight for UFC gold quite clear.
“I don’t need to fight that guy for the title shot,” he said of Saturday’s contest. “I took this fight to have some fun, beat that guy up. I’m No. 3 now. I never lose my fights.”
While Edwards’ shocking upset win over Kamaru Usman last month likely put a third fight between the two between Chimaev and his golden ambitions, “Borz” knows it’s only a matter of time, particularly if things continue the way they have thus far.
“It’s only me,” he said. “What are they gonna do? Everyone wants to see me fight for the title.”
As for this weekend’s clash with Diaz, the confident contender has a very clear picture of how things will go, and a very straightforward — and somewhat familiar — message for his opponent.
“Just show up. Don’t be scared. I’ll make it fast for you,” he said when asked if he had something to say to Diaz ahead of their entanglement on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, nearly hitting Stockton’s favorite son with one of his own famous lines.
“I’m going to go in, take his head, take my million, and go home.”
UFC 279: Diaz vs Ferguson took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 10, 2022. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
