As hyped up as Dana White is about [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag], he doesn’t view a fight with [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] as a mismatch.
When Chimaev (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) asked about a potential fight with Diaz, White was on board, which turned a lot of heads. But the UFC president explained that as dominant as Chimaev has been in his four octagon bouts, he still has much less experience than Diaz.
Diaz (20-13 MMA, 15-11 UFC) recently criticized UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] for opting to rematch someone he already finished in Colby Covington. He even posted an image on his story implying that he’s targeting the winner of Saturday’s UFC 268 main event. So White thinks if the standout from Stockton, Calif., was keen to fight the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, then he should have no issues fighting Chimaev.
“I just did an interview … and he was like, ‘Everybody feels like you’re feeding Nate Diaz to the wolves,'” White told BT Sport. “(Chimaev) has got four fights. Nate Diaz has been here for years. Nate Diaz was just asking for an Usman fight – that would be feeding Nate Diaz to the wolves. Listen, Khamzat Chimaev looks incredible, but he’s never fought anybody inside the top 10.
“The last guy he fought was No. 11 and he’s never fought anybody in the top five. He’s never been in any of those kinds of fights yet. As incredible as he looks, let’s be realistic here and what he’s done in a short amount of time and how popular he’s become. But if you wanted to fight with Kamaru Usman, you shouldn’t be worried about Khamzat Chimaev.”
With one fight left on Diaz’s UFC contract, White revealed that the offer to fight Chimaev was there before UFC 267 happened.
“He was offered that before we even went to Abu Dhabi,” White said. “So he was offered that before that fight even happened. But that was my point: As incredible as Khamzat is and the things he has accomplished and the hype and energy that’s surrounding him right now, he’s still got some big fights ahead of him.”
[vertical-gallery id=1507855]
[vertical-gallery id=443084]