Khamzat Chimaev vs. Nate Diaz For Main Event at UFC 279
Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz have verbally agreed to fight in a 5-round main event at UFC 279 on September 10th in the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas per Brett Okamoto.
A fight that has been brewing for months appears to have come to fruition between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz. The two were rumored to have been set to fight earlier this year but Diaz refuted those claims, saying that Khamzat declined the fight. Chimaev would deny this and continue to call Diaz out, finally producing a result.
This will be the final fight on Nate Diaz's contract with the UFC. He has been vocal about his desire to leave the company, most notably in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani where he claimed that the company was 'holding him hostage' and that the greatest thing that could happen to him would be getting freed from his contract. He gets the chance to do so against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279.
Chimaev's last fight was a 3-round war with Gilbert Burns at UFC 273. He was tested for the first time in the UFC and showed his ability to push through adversity in a fight. It was a closely contested bout that would see Chimaev win a unanimous decision. This was his first time going to a decision in 11 pro fights.
Diaz was last seen at UFC 263 in May of 2021. He faced Leon Edwards in a 5-round main card bout. This was the first ever 5-round non-title/main event fight in the promotion's modern era. He was largely outclassed for the first 4 rounds before landing a massive shot that had Edwards dazed and rocked. Edwards would survive, but the moral victory of the night would go to Diaz. Diaz would lose by unanimous decision but still earned respect for taking the fight and producing the biggest moment during it.
Both fighters are massive stars in the promotion and this PPV will likely be one of the bigger events of the year.
