Khamzat Chimaev goes viral for Nate Diaz funeral post
Apr 9, 2022; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Khamzat Chimaev (blue gloves) after a fight against Gilbert Burns (red gloves) during UFC 273 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports
Nate Diaz will fight in what could be his final UFC bout on September 10 against Khamzat Chimaev, and Chimaev is apparently looking forward to sending Diaz’s UFC career to the grave.
Diaz, one of the more popular fighters in the sport, will fight the unbeaten Chimaev in Las Vegas in a five-round headline welterweight matchup at UFC 279.
In a comment to ESPN on Tuesday, Chimaev said that he was going to handle Diaz’s UFC funeral.
Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) provided this comment about the fight to ESPN. Translated from Swedish by his representative Majdi Shammas.
"I am going to handle Nate Diaz's funeral with the UFC."
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 19, 2022
Chimaev tweeted a photo on Wednesday that seemed to further indicate his plans to end Diaz’s UFC career on a bad note.
The photo depicts a funeral scene, with Chimaev presiding over the service and standing in front of a casket. Five mournful onlookers stood behind Chimaev, while a headstone at the foot of the casket had “Nate Diaz” written on it. Beneath Diaz’s name, the length of his career, 2004-2022, was included, as was the UFC logo.
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) July 20, 2022
Chimaev, the third-ranked welterweight in the sport, is a huge early favorite to win the fight.
Diaz (21-13) has not won a fight since beating former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis in 2019. The 37-year-old has not fought since he lost to Leon Edwards via unanimous decision in June 2021. Chimaev, 28, has 11 victories, his latest coming via unanimous decision against Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 in April.