Khamzat Chimaev plans ‘to show who’s the gangster’ against Nate Diaz at UFC 279
Khamzat Chimaev was excited when his UFC 279 main event fight against Nate Diaz was finally made official.
For months now, Chimaev and Diaz have been going back and forth with one another for quite some time and the two will finally fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 10. It will also serve as Diaz’s final fight of his UFC contract and for Chimaev, he says he will prove he is the real gangster in this fight.
“For me, it doesn’t actually matter,” Chimaev said on The MMA Hour. “If they give me Kamaru Usman, I will do the same thing. For me, it doesn’t matter. 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 grow up [with] the war, and we eat the gangsters for breakfast.”
Khamzat Chimaev also says he’s excited about the fight due to the fact he grew up watching Nate Diaz. He also expects it to be a very fun fight for the fans.
“When my manager told me it’s done, I said that’s good, that’s perfect for us,” Chimaev said. “Make money, make good names, the guy’s going out. Nate said he doesn’t like me. … 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. Like, I’m not going to get there, I’m just going to see it. Now, I fight with the guys that I was watching. American guys, from Chechnya I watched them. Now, I fight with them.”
