On the night of September 11, Khamzat Chimaev was supposed to meet Nate Diaz at UFC 279. In this duel, Wolf had excellent chances to win another victory, but the meeting with an experienced American would not take place. The Swedish fighter of Chechen origin was nonchalant about cutting weight, and now he is facing a fight with Kevin Holland.

Before the confrontation with a new opponent, Khamzat again plunged into a scandal. He offended the public, and even allowed himself an inappropriate statement, disgracing the entire Russian region. Deeds tolerable for a street hooligan are completely unsuitable for a professional.

Perhaps it’s time for the UFC to part ways with Chimaev?

Chimaev’s duel with Diaz was under threat the day before, when the two opposing camps met in a mass brawl. According to Dana White, a skirmish began between the teams of Khamzat and Kevin Holland, after which representatives of Diaz joined the showdown. There were 57 people on the side of the American, about three dozen behind Chimaev. Potentially, in such a battle, any fighter could be seriously injured and be unable to return to the octagon for a long time, thereby substituting the UFC.

But the mass skirmish did not become an obstacle to the duel. Chimaev failed in another situation, when he was opposed only by the scales. The Swedish fighter did not meet the limit of 77.56 kg, approaching the mark of 81 kg. Diaz did not like such a difference in size with his opponent, the American refused to fight the heavier Wolf.

Khamzat Chimaev / Photo: © Jeff Bottari / Contributor / UFC / Gettyimages.com

Still, neither Khamzat nor his failed opponent remained without a duel in the tournament. Diaz got another eminent veteran, Tony Ferguson, as rivals. Chimaev will have to face Holland in the octagon, whom he attacked in the chest in the notorious skirmish of the masses. The confrontation will take place in the intermediate weight category and, perhaps, will be even more competitive than the duel with Diaz.

However, even in this situation, when the fight was saved for Chimaev, he could not calm down and continued to test the strength of the nerves of the organization’s leadership. Khamzat already did not enjoy the great love of the public, which booed him at the duel of glances, but here there could be no love at all – the Wolf greeted the fans with his middle fingers from two hands, and then issued the following passage:

— Hey, this is Chechnya, bastards! I *** (destroy) your boyfriend, I *** (destroy) him just like I did backstage yesterday. I don’t care, I want to smear everyone! I came here to *** (destroy) everyone! I’m going to grab everything here.

A question for professionalism

Fans of mixed martial arts in general and the UFC in particular are accustomed to different statements of fighters. But here, it seems, Wolf frankly overdid it with colors, and it’s somehow strange to address such words to the fans, and not to the opponent.

And even if we leave aside the desires of Chimaev and his history of relations with Holland, what does the Russian region have to do with it? Las Vegas is in Nevada, not in Chechnya. If Khamzat decided to remind who he represents in the octagon, then why didn’t he mention his new Swedish homeland, under the flag of which he officially enters the UFC? I would have said something along the lines of “This is Kalmar, bastards!”, and he would not have dishonored the entire Russian region with dubious statements.

One would think that Chimaev here is just one of the actors in the “Dana White Theater” and there should not be any big complaints about his words and actions. Considering that the mass brawl, which no one really saw except White and a number of journalists, warmed up precisely the confrontation between Khamzat and Holland, the carelessness of the fighter in the weight race should no longer be surprising. The UFC received several more interesting pairs for the tournament at once. The statements and actions of the Wolf in front of the public also seem like part of the plan. Perhaps his task was to give heat, but the fighter overdid it a little.

However, if we leave the conspiracy theory out of the equation, then in fact we have that Chimaev committed a number of actions that call his professionalism into question. He got into a fight with a dubious outcome before the fight, did not care about weight, and then insulted the fans, thanks to which, in fact, the mixed martial arts industry makes money. Is the leadership of the UFC satisfied with everything in the actions of Chimaev?

There is a risk that the current short-term successes from the presence of the Wolf in the ranks of the organization in the future will turn into big reputational losses. Wouldn’t it be better to avoid an unpleasant scenario and put a toxic fighter out the door in advance?