Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz almost fought at UFC 279. But the Swedish fighter wasn’t able to make weight for the fight. ‘Borz’ even claimed that Nate Diaz was offered $2 million because he wanted to fight the Stockton native. Moreover, Chimaev’s coach, Andreas Michael, shed light upon the offer made to the UFC veteran.
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The scheduled match between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz didn’t go down as planned, as the former weighed over seven pounds heavier than the weight limit of 175 lbs for welterweight. As a result, UFC president Dana White reshuffled the fight card with ‘Borz’ taking on Kevin Holland, who stepped in to save the card. Meanwhile, the younger Diaz brother squared off against Tony Ferguson in the main event.
Andreas Michael recently made an appearance in the Submission Radio Podcast and provided an update on Khamzat Chimaev. Moreover, he was asked about ‘Borz’ claiming that Diaz was offered 2 million dollars to fight the Swedish fighter, to which he provided an explanation.
Andreas Michael addresses the $2 million offer for Nate Diaz
Andreas Michael claimed that Nate Diaz is one of UFC’s greatest fighters. However, he mentioned that he is not fit to fight young fighters due to his body’s wear and tear over the course of his career. Michael said, “Nate was and is one of the UFC’s great fighters.” He added, “But he just can’t compete with the young stallions anymore.”
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Michael then talked about Nate Diaz’s unwillingness to fight Khamzat Chimaev in the first place. He said, “Nate never wanted to fight [Khamzat Chimaev].” He added, “Of course, it was our obligation to make weight. But when we didn’t weigh in, when he [Nate Diaz] was offered like, when things were thrown at him to take the fight, He just said no. And I don’t blame him.”
Michaels claimed that the fault was on Khamzat Chimaev and his team for not making weight. So when the offers were laid out to Nate Diaz for the fight to take place, he rejected the offer. Michael also believes that the fight with the Stockton native would have been massive for Khamzat Chimaev. “That would have been a tremendous win …Nate’s happy with what happened.”
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Nate Diaz is currently a free agent. There have been no details regarding his next UFC fight. However, he has been offered a 2-fight deal by Jake Paul to fight him in boxing followed by an MMA bout. On the other hand, Khamzat Chimaev is planning to make his debut in the middleweight division. We will have to wait and see what follows in both fighters’ careers moving ahead.
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