Nate Diaz has taken exception to Daniel Cormier suggesting that his nixed fight with Khamzat Chimaev was a gift from God.
Diaz (21-13 MMA) and Chimaev (12-0 MMA) were of course slated to headline UFC 279 earlier this month in Las Vegas. However, after ‘Borz’ missed weight by a whopping 7.5lbs, the fight card was ultimately reshuffled in an effort to keep both Nate and Khamzat on the card.
In the end it was Diaz defeating Tony Ferguson by fourth round submission in the welterweight headliner, this after Chimaev had steamrolled Kevin Holland in the 180lbs catchweight co-main event.
Given how both fights played out, Daniel Cormier is confident that Nate Diaz would have lost “badly” if he’d collided with Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279.
“For Nate Diaz it was perfect!” Cormier said on the DC & RC Show (h/t MMAMania). “Can you imagine Nate Diaz fighting Khamzat Chimaev? Could you imagine if that happened? Nate Diaz not fighting Khamzat was a gift from God. Like, that is literally best case scenario for him. I will sit here and say this without a shadow of a doubt, he was going to lose to Khamzat Chimaev, and he was going to lose badly. As much as Nate dismisses the guy, he just doesn’t have the skillset to stop the guy from doing what he does.”
Respect your OG you fat motherfucker pic.twitter.com/FGoBVnl7oo
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) September 23, 2022
Those remarks clearly struck a nerve with the Stockton native, as Nate Diaz took to Twitter with the following message for ‘DC’.
Daniel Cormier’s comments were recently echoed by UFC President Dana White who shared the following assessment of the Diaz vs. Chimaev fallout.
“After you watch the fight, you realize Khamzat vs. Nate Diaz would have been f**king – that wouldn’t have been good,” White said on “The Action Junkeez Podcast” (h/t MMAJunkie). “Khamzat, I know the fans got pissed at him for not making weight and everything else, but Jesus f*cking Christ. What he went out and did to Kevin Holland – did you see Kevin Holland post the picture the other day that his eyes were all red from the f**king choke? I mean, holy sh*t.”
