Khamzat Chimaev Made a Fool of Himself at UFC 279
Khamzat Chimaev made a fool of himself at UFC 279. That is not easy to do if you get a first-round submission victory, but Chimaev made it happen. That’s because it wasn’t just the fight that made him look like a fool. It was just about everything he did during fight week. Let’s recap all the dumb moves Chimaev made at UFC 279.
Chimaev missed weight by 7.5 pounds
This is the obvious one. When you sign to book a fight, you have to do two things: 1) make weight, and 2) fight the opponent you agreed to fight. Chimaev was unable to pass step one as he stepped on the scale at 178.5 for a bout that had a weight limit of 171 pounds. This resulted in the fight being canceled.
Is missing weight bad? Yes, but missing weight when you are supposed to headline a UFC pay-per-view against Nate Diaz is catastrophic. First off, you do not get to fight Diaz. This would have been an incredible opportunity for Chimaev. In all honesty, it is incredibly likely that Chimaev would have run through Diaz. That type of outcome would have skyrocketed Chimaev’s star power amongst the casual UFC fan. Instead, Diaz stole the headlines as he walked away from the UFC with a win.
If that was not bad enough, Chimaev has likely lost favor with Dana White and the UFC. Essentially, Chimaev disturbed the hand that fed him. With a win over Gilbert Burns, Chimaev was next-in-line for a welterweight title shot. However, now that seems unlikely as Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman will likely face off in a trilogy fight. If Chimaev made weight and beat Diaz, he likely would have been able to wait to fight the winner. After missing weight, do not be surprised if the UFC makes Chimaev fight Colby Covington or move up to middleweight.
To add a cherry on top, Chimaev did not show any remorse about missing weight. Instead, he flipped off the camera and pretended he did not care.
An interesting fight with Kevin Holland
Instead of fighting Diaz, Chimaev fought Kevin Holland. Holland is a fan favorite with great striking, but he has struggled to beat wrestlers in the past. Styles make fights and this match-up was a stylistic layup for Chimaev. With that in mind, Chimaev began the fight by ignoring Holland’s glove touch as he slid in for a takedown. I am a strong believer that if your opponent goes for a glove touch you do not try and strike or wrestle them. Apparently, Chimaev disagrees.
In the rest of the fight, Chimaev worked to wrestle Holland. Call me crazy but he did not look that good. He struggled to get Holland down and was unable to keep him down. The D’Arce choke he landed was impressive though. He should be thankful he landed that submission. Chimaev would not have been able to keep that pace for much longer. All in all, I do not feel like I watched an elite fighter.
The press conference brawl
The UFC 279 press conference was originally scheduled to include the top three fights on the card; however, the event was canceled minutes before it began. The event was canceled after a brawl began backstage. It was reported that the brawl was started by Chimaev and Holland before being escalated by Diaz. Details are murky but regardless of what happened, we know Chimaev was at the heart of it. This would not be a major issue in most scenarios, but when paired with the other problems Chimaev caused at UFC 279 it only hurt his relationship with the UFC more.
Chimaev’s run-in with Paulo Costa
This event did not hurt Chimaev’s relationship with the UFC, but it made him look like a fool. Chimaev got into an argument with Paulo Coast prior to UFC 279. If you have not seen this yet, here it is.
Now, this has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. For context, Chimaev found out Costa was training with Jake Shields at the UFC Performace Institute and decided to confront him. This would not be a big deal, but Chimaev brought around ten dudes with him. What is wrong with this? Well, he brought these dudes with him to hold him back. This is a classic fake tough guy move. A dude acts like he wants to fight, but he has his friends hold him back. You can catch this behavior every weekend at a frat house near you. If he really wanted to fight Costa, he could have walked into the octagon, put on a pair of gloves, and the pair could have sparred.
Am I saying that Chimaev will never be a champion? No. Am I saying the UFC will never forgive him? No. Conor McGregor threw a dolly through a bus window and Khabib Nurmagomedov started a brawl after he beat McGregor. Things worked out well for both of those guys. If Chimaev keeps winning, this will not matter to the UFC. Regardless, he looked like a fool at UFC 279 and likely lost some fans because of it.
