On the night of September 11 in Las Vegas at the UFC 279 tournament, Swedish fighter with Russian roots Khamzat Chimaev will fight in the octagon with American Nate Diaz. Bookmakers have no doubts about the outcome of the confrontation, offering to bet on the victory of a native of Chechnya with a coefficient of 1.07.

A little more intrigue is how long Diaz can hold out against the Wolf. Brazilian Burns Gilbert held out in all three rounds in April. Chinese Li Jingliang last year did not reach the first break. American Gerald Mearschert in 2020 generally acted as an extra. It took Khamzat just 17 seconds and two punches to win.

Why did the opponent enter the octagon at all?

“Smear the chicken”

On September 19, 2020, UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley, whose protagonists were, respectively, American welterweights Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley. The fight reached the fifth round, in which Woodley inflicted an injury to the ribs of his opponent, on which their interactions in the octagon ended.

Shortly before that, a native of Russia, Khamzat Chimaev, nicknamed the Wolf, appeared in the octagon, now playing under the flag of Sweden. The undefeated fighter by that time had managed to make his debut in the UFC and even win two early victories in this organization. But the next fight was still special for him – the first appearance in Las Vegas.

The American Gerald Mirschert was going to oppose the Swedish Chechen, whose track record included 31 victories with 13 defeats. In the UFC, the fighter did not really shine, but he had more impressive experience than Khamzat. Chimaev, however, did not feel any special respect for the enemy, descending almost to direct insults.

Met him in Las Vegas and said he talked too much about me. I asked him: “Do you like to talk a lot?” He nodded his head. Then I just called him a chicken and promised to smear it, – he quoted the MMA Fighting fighter.

These words did not particularly catch the American, he generally preferred to take care of his psyche before the battle, without being distracted by media noise. As for the plans for the duel, Mirshert did not doubt his victory, believing that he would be able to discourage Chimaev.

“I think I will make him confused, make mistakes. His greatest strengths put him in the worst possible position. Moreover, I will make it work to get to this point. And if he gets there, he will already be tired. I will do with him in battle what he has not even reached yet in training. This is the value of a veteran,” Mearschert said in an interview with James Lynch.

Passed stage

Almost everything that the 32-year-old “veteran” conceived was not realized. Chimaev “greeted” the opponent with a kick to the body. In the next few seconds, the American was pushed back to the net, where Khamzat delivered a devastating side blow to the jaw.

Probably, the American did not expect such a start from his opponent, who actually came to mixed martial arts from freestyle wrestling. But, thinking about how he would act on the ground, Mirshert, apparently, did not prepare a plan in case of killer blows performed by his opponent. As a result, Gerald could not withstand the first serious attack, and this, in fact, ended the battle. Falling, the American missed a couple more times – he no longer allowed the referee. It took the Chechen fighter only 17 seconds to win.

“There was only the thought in my head to destroy this guy, and I did it. My trainer told me to box a little and show that I have a punch. The plan has been implemented,” Chimaev said after the victory.

As a result of entering the octagon, Volk received a bonus for the performance of the evening. Along the way, we managed to set several records, such as the shortest time to achieve three victories in the UFC – 66 days (from July 16 to September 19). Also, the fighter continued to keep some incredible statistics on missed strikes – only four in three fights.

The audience was convinced that this self-confident guy has a great future. Starting brightly on Fight Island, he continued to amaze in Las Vegas. Mearschert could only say that he seriously screwed up. For Khamzat, he became a stage too quickly passed. Now another US representative, Nate Diaz, will have to try to avoid a similar role.