Khamzat Chimaev Calls Out UFC Legend For Comeback Fight

Khamzat Chimaev says he’s coming to smash everybody. The 26 year old has been out of action since September due to the long-term effects of COVID. At one point, he temporarily announced his retirement from the sport because of illness, but later backtracked from his decision.

COVID And Short-Lived Retirement

Speaking to MMA Junkie, Chimaev explained the reason behind his short-lived retirement.

“I was never scared about my life,” Chimaev said. “I was scared about, like, what am I going to do with my mom and my family. That’s what I was scared about. That’s why I said maybe I was finished with the sport. My health is more important for me because I have to help my mom and my family.”

The 2020 breakout star now feels mentally and physically reinvigorated. And having fought all his life, Chimaev said that the prospect of making lots of money from fighting makes it even better now.

“I’m healthy now,” Chimaev said. “My father, my brother, they love the fight. They said, ‘If you want to fight, let’s do it.’ I said, ‘Of course I want to fight. All my life I want to fight. Why not now?’ I can make money, give help to somebody. That’s good for me. I love this sport. I love to smash somebody and make money. It’s so easy work. Go and fight? I did all my life fights, I never get money, and now I can make money with this s***. I love it.”

Super Fight With UFC Legend

During the UFC 261 post-fight press conference, Dana White said that he’s down for a potential fight between Chimaev and Nick Diaz, who has been teasing a return to the Octagon. And ‘Borz’ says he’s also on board to fight the Stockton native to see who the real ‘gangster’ is.

“I want to fight with him,” Chimaev said. “That will be good. I watched his fight when I was a kid, now I’m going to fight with him. Perfect for me. I like it. I want to see who is the real gangster. I think he is a real gangster in this sport, but we’ll see.”

While Chimaev has a great amount of respect for Diaz, he feels that his ‘gangster’ persona could just be for showmanship.

“He’s a legend,” Chimaev stated. “Everybody knows him in this world, the MMA world. He’s good. These good guys, they’re like play gangsters. It’s going to be a good fight if he wants to fight against me. I don’t know. Maybe he’s scared.”

Chimaev spent over a decade in war-torn Chechnya before finding his safe haven in Sweden. Since he’s lived through tougher situations, he says nobody in the fight game is ‘gangster’ enough to intimidate him, not even a Diaz brother.

“This is MMA; this is sport,” Chimaev said. “Who is the gangster here? Gangster is other things. People kill each other. Maybe in this game, [Diaz] is a gangster. You can say like that. I grow up in the war, brother. This is bulls*** for me, somebody’s a gangster. No, I’ve seen many things in my life. For me, nobody is gangster.”

In fact, Chimaev believes that he’s more gangster than Diaz.

“I was out for how many months?” Chimaev asked. “He was out many years. Coming back, it will be good. I think UFC can make good money with that, press conference and all that. I like these guys. We’re going to play some gangsters.

“I’m coming back, and we kill somebody, smash somebody. Now we have Diaz. I don’t know, both maybe someday? Both brothers. We’re going to see who is the real gangster. Chechen gangster is better than Stockton gangster.”

Fighting Kamaru Usman

In the UFC 261 main event, Kamaru Usman brutally knocked out Jorge Masvidal in the second round to defend his welterweight title. Chimaev believes ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is currently the best 170lbs fighter in the world, but that will change once their paths cross down the road.

“Usman looks good,” Chimaev said. “Now I can say this: In my weight class, he is the best fighter in the world. … Next year, he have to wait for me. I understand I have to fight with somebody [first], and I always say it doesn’t matter for me who is against me. I’m going to go for everybody.”

Chimaev is eyeing a return to the Octagon in August, with plans to ‘kill everybody’ inside the Octagon.

“I hope I’m going to fight in August,” Chimaev said. “I told Dana White yesterday. He said he’s ready to give me somebody, and I said to him, ‘Don’t forget about me. I’m going to kill everybody there.’”

Would you be interested in a potential fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Nick Diaz?

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