Khamzat Chimaev once said that the consequences would have been terrible if a canceled matchup of his UFC official period had reached the Octagon.
Chimaev is finally ready for his first title shot this Saturday, while 'Borz' continues the momentum of his unbeaten run in MMA to the top of the middleweight division of the UFC.
In the main event of UFC 319 on August 16, Chimaev will challenge Dricaev Du Persis, looking for the first to beat the South African in the promotion and end his reign in his third defense.
To reach the 185-pound gold, the Chechen star had to endure a few former UFC champions in Kamaru Usman and Robert Whittaker. Before that, Chimaev had focused on the welterweight title for the first time, but brought a huge mistake on the scale that in 2022 to an end to an end.
Chimaev is grateful that it did – because of the health of one veteran hunter …
Why Khamzat Chimaev 'Happy' Nate Diaz Fight had collapsed
After Chimaev Gilbert Burns had defeated in a war with three laps, many believed that he was still a victory of a shot on the 170 pound belt. He seemed the chance to achieve that in his first pay-per-view main event at one of the greatest stars of the UFC in 2022, Nate Diaz.
But a weight of 7.5 pounds threw the UFC 279 card into the air and resulted in a large shake-up. While Diaz Tony Ferguson instead submitted in his last UFC fight instead, Chimaev tore in one round by Kevin Holland.
During the press conference after the fight, Chimaev expressed some lighting that he had not shared the cage with Diaz, for fear what would have happened if he was.
“I don't understand that I can win (he) to me,” said Chimaev. “Diaz must thank God, He didn't fight me.
'If I fought against him, I would kill him. I would be in prison, so maybe I should be happy.
'Have you seen that fight (Diaz vs Ferguson)? Did you get tired of the boys? Have you seen how they kicked? How did they hit? How did they struggle? How did they struggle?
“The man is old. I am the young man. I am the murderer,” Chimaev added.
Chimaev can also be grateful for another reason, because during the Vecht Week in September 2022 the indiscretion was the stage for his step up in weight and the upcoming UFC 319 title against Du Plessis.
Dan Hardy called Khamzat Chimaev fighting against a 'murder attempt' on Nate Diaz
A man who apparently agreed with the sentiment of Chimaev was an ex-PUC-Title-seconder than Hardy, who made it clear what he thought of the decision to book 'Borz' against Diaz.
Months before UFC 279 Hardy showed interest in Boxing Diaz. With that in mind he hoped to see the Stockton star leave the promotion, but he was still shocked by the way the UFC intended to say goodbye to the Octagon.
“Imagine that Nate Diaz (Vecht) Khamzat Chimaev. We all know what that was. We all knew what that was,” Hardy said on the Freedom Pact Podcast.
“Fortunately, it was worked out that fight did not happen, and what did we get from Dana the following week?” It's a good thing that fight did not happen. That would have been really bad. ” Like yes, man.
“I don't have to buy bulls anymore -because I know it's bulls -. You know what you are doing. It was a murder attack. They tried to bury (Diaz) before he left his UFC contract.”