After months of back and forth drama in interviews and online, UFC fighter Nate Diaz is finally getting the final fight of his contract with the UFC by facing none other than fan favorite Khamzat Chimaev.
Nate Diaz at UFC 196 via UFC- Ultimate Fighting Championships
Days after Diaz openly accused the UFC and its president, Dana White, of holding him “hostage,” it has now been announced that he will face off against Chimaev at UFC 279 this September.
This will mark Diaz’s first fight in the octagon since June 2021 when he lost to up and comer Leon Edwards.
Since his loss last year, Diaz has publicly begged for the UFC to give him a final fight so he can finish his contractual exclusivity with them to pursue other ventures, like his desired boxing match with YouTuber Jake Paul.
Brett Okamoto Twitter
Related: UFC Boss Dana White Calls Jake Paul A “Pay Per View Turd”
As the fight was announced on Wednesday, Chimaev (11-0) released an additional statement to ESPN, saying that “I am going to handle Nate Diaz’s funeral with the UFC.”
While this matching was always in the odds, having Diaz (who hasn’t won a fight in the last five years) go up against an undefeated welterweight fighter such as Chimaev is certainly one that could make or break Diaz’s UFC legacy.
Khamzat Chimaev via UFC- Ultimate Fighting Championships YouTube
Chimaev’s most recent win was against Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 where he won by decision. The win lifted him to fourth overall in the Welterweight division behind Champion Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington, and Leon Edwards.
https://youtu.be/SoXFMviAT40
To make things more interesting, Paul took a moment on Twitter to provide some of his thoughts on the fight, surprising many by saying that he actually thinks Diaz will be able to win against Chimaev.
“Betr believe I’m putting my money on Nate Diaz to win versus fake Khabib,” Paul posted to his official Twitter account.
Source: JakePaul Twitter
This comes as a surprise to many since Paul and Diaz have publicly gone after each other online, teasing up the continued speculation that one day we might see the two face off in the boxing ring together.
How do you think things will go down for Diaz in September? Will this be a comeback that will live on in legend throughout UFC history or will this be a painful end to his crashing MMA career?
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