Khamzat Chimaev plans ‘UFC funeral’ for Nate Diaz ahead of upcoming bout

Khamzat Chimaev is ready to go for what will be the highest profile match up of his still young superstar career.

Reported today (Tues., July 19, 2022), Chimaev is set to main event for the first time in his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) career on Sept. 10, 2022, at UFC 279. Standing in his way will be one-time Lightweight title challenger, Nate Diaz. The bout will be a five-round, non-title Welterweight affair.

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MASSIVE MIDDLEWEIGHT MATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) makes its highly anticipated return to Sydney, Australia, for the first time in five years on Sat., Sept. 9, 2023, with a 185-pound world title fight inside Qudos Bank Arena. In the ESPN+-streamed pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Middleweight roost-ruler, Israel Adesanya, plans to silence No. 5-seeded contender, Sean Strickland. In UFC 293’s hard-hitting Heavyweight co-main event, No-6-ranked fan favorite, Tai Tuivasa, locks horns with towering Russian, Alexander Volkov (No. 8).

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Rumblings of the potential fight date back to May 2022 when UFC President, Dana White, unintentionally had his war room whiteboard list of upcoming matches leaked during a podcast interview. For awhile, it appeared nothing was going to come of it after White addressed the board, claiming it was something the promotion was working on, but wasn’t yet done. Each side spoke out on multiple occasions in the months that followed, Chimaev openly content with the booking, while Diaz has continuously demanded his release from UFC or to get a fight with “anyone” so he can finish the last fight of his contract.

Well, wish granted.

“This is a fight Nate has been asking for since the middle of April,” Diaz’s representative, Zach Rosenfield, said via ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.

Historically, the smothering wrestler-type fighters like Chimaev have been the bane of Diaz’s existence in mixed martial arts (MMA). Supremely confident in his abilities, Chimaev is well aware of that.

“I am going to handle Nate Diaz’s funeral with the UFC,” Chimaev said via Okamoto.

Despite Diaz riding a two-fight losing streak and Chimaev surging with a flawless professional record (11-0) on the heels of a massive Gilbert Burns unanimous decision (watch highlights), a win for “Borz” could still very well earn him the next shot at Welterweight gold. A few weeks before UFC 279, the title will be contested in a rematch between the champion, Kamaru Usman, and the top contender, Leon Edwards, at UFC 278 on Aug. 20, 2022.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 279 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 279: “Khamzat vs. Diaz” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.