Khamzat Chimaev: Nate Diaz ‘Has to Thank God He Didn’t Fight Me’

For someone who missed weight by a considerable amount, Khamzat Chimaev wasn’t exactly remorseful following his victory over Kevin Holland at UFC 279.

Chimaev was initially supposed to face Nate Diaz in Saturday’s headliner, but the card was restructured when “Borz” tipped the scales at 178.5 pounds on Friday. As a result, the Allstars Training Center product was booked against Holland in a 180-pound catchweight clash.

While Chimaev claimed the he could have made weight but was advised by doctors to stop his cut, he also didn’t seem to think it mattered all that much. That ultimately led to fans at T-Mobile arena showering Chimaev with boos, which also didn’t seem to bother him.

"You care about that s—t? I don't care,” Chimaev said at Saturday’s post-fight press confernece. I care about my family, I care about my family, I care about my career, I care about my money... One day they're with me, one day they're not with me.”

In his post-fight interview, Chimaev said he plans to continue competing at both welterweight and middleweight. At the press conference, he didn’t seem to be worried about making 170 pounds in the future — but it all depends on the direction of his coach.

"I did that before,” he said. “Why not? I don't know, I said to you, I'm going to go back and listen to my coach. If he says 170, we do 170, if he says heavyweight, we do heavyweight.”

While Chimaev overwhelmed Holland en route to a brabo choke submission victory at the 2:13 mark of Round 1, he claimed the outcome would have been for worse for Diaz, who prevailed against Tony Ferguson in the new UFC 279 main event.

"Kevin Holland, tough guy, stronger guy, much better than Diaz,” Chimaev saidd. “If Diaz and him were fighting, Holland would kill him. I finished that guy, so easy, first round.

“So yeah, Diaz has to thank God he didn't fight me.”

He also wasn’t impressed by the performances of Diaz and Ferguson in the main event.

"Did you see how they kicked, how they punched, how they wrestled, how they grappled? These guys are old,” Chimaev said. “I'm young, I'm the killer.”

As far as the state of the welterweight division, Chimaev seems to believe he’s near the top of the list of contenders despite his transgression on the scale.

"Who are they going to give it to? Who is next there? Everyone loses the fight,” he said. “Colby [Covington] loses two or thre fights in a row. [Jorge] Masvidal loses, when was his last win? Against Diaz. Did you see Diaz fight? So terrible.”