Chimaev urgently changed the opponent before the fight. Is the scandal a UFC production?

The UFC 279 tournament, which has not yet begun, has already managed to go down in history: for the first time in the long years of the promotion’s existence, a press conference with the participation of the main participants of the fight evening was disrupted. The brawl was staged by the headliners of the tournament in Las Vegas Khamzat Chimaev, Nate Diaz and Kevin Holland, who were assisted by dozens of guys from their entourage.

Surprisingly, none of the athletes in the massacre received a scratch. The tournament retained all the main participants, but Chimaev again brought another confusion – a Swede of Chechen origin did not meet the welterweight limit and jeopardized the main event of the tournament. However, the UFC decided to get out of the situation in an interesting way!

Borz received an American as an opponent, whom he had already kicked in the chest.

Amusing castling

In the main event of UFC 279, Chimaev and Diaz were supposed to meet, but Khamzat did not meet the prescribed 77.6 kilograms, showing almost 81 kg on the scales. As a result, the promotion decided to change several pairs at once, castled the fighters among themselves. In the main event, Diaz will face the legendary Tony Ferguson, who was supposed to fight the Chinese Li Jingliang. Chimaev will meet with Kevin Holland, whose opponents before that were Daniel Rodriguez. The fight between the Chechen and the American will take place in catchweight.

Photo: © Chris Unger / Contributor / UFC / Gettyimages.com

Opinions are already being expressed on the network that such a development of events was planned in advance by the cunning head of the UFC: Dana White did not hide his smile after the brawl of the fighters and did not even fine Chimaev for a wild advantage. At the same time, the potential fight of the peak Chimaev, going undefeated, against the 37-year-old Diaz, who lost almost half of his fights, caused bewilderment among many fans. Now the fans will get a much more logical confrontation between the veterans in the person of Nate and Ferguson, in turn, Borza was given a more competitive opponent, with whom they had already managed to create a warm-up before the fight.

It was the clash between Chimaev and Holland that gave rise to the massacre, because of which the press conference was canceled. Before the start of the event, Holland made a joke towards Khamzat by offering him the services of a barber. The Chechen did not appreciate the humor and kicked Kevin in the chest, after which a brawl ensued, to which Nate Diaz’s team later joined.

Chimaev may run into trouble

The only reason why the UFC initially tried to bring Chimaev and Diaz together was the media side of such a confrontation. Since his appearance in the main promotion of the planet, Khamzat has not ceased to create a sensation, making loud statements and backing them up with victories in battles. Nate, on the other hand, has been one of the most popular fighters in the US for many years, regularly losing in his fights, but gaining sympathy due to his “gangster” charisma. From a sporting point of view, few people considered Diaz a competitive rival for Chimaev.

Therefore, Borz’s clash with Kevin Holland, who has a record of 23-7 and goes on a series of two wins, looks much nicer for fans of martial arts, not scandals. The American does not have solid wrestling skills, but lately he has improved this component quite well. At the same time, Kevin is much more skilled and diverse in percussion technique than Diaz.

Chimaev’s last fight with Gilbert Burns showed that the Chechen fighter has significant gaps both in striking and in wrestling. Holland, who has repeatedly demonstrated high fighting intelligence, can surprise the entire fighting community and inflict the first defeat of Khamzat in his career.