The upcoming main event of UFC 279 featuring Khamzat Chimaev vs. Nate Diaz has not been received well by the mixed martial arts community, including UFC commentator and former two division champion Daniel Cormier who termed the fight as a “mismatch”.
These guys are in different points of their careers: Daniel Cormier
From fans to several fighters themselves, including Leon Edwards and commentator Dan Hardy, questioned the promotion and Dana White’s decision to pit Chimaev, someone who is in his prime against Diaz, who is in the twilight of his career.
Even though White himself has addressed the slack he’s getting and told his critics to “go to the movies“ on the fight night on 1st October, Daniel Cormier has also joined in line to question booking such a bout and on the DC & RC podcast, discussed it with co-host Ryan Clark.
“You know what RC, I don’t believe that Nate will go down quietly,” said Cormier, “I just think that at this point in their careers, Nate is on a different path than Khamzat Chimaev. Nate will tell you there’s still championship aspirations because he’s a fighter and is as tough as they come. But when you look at what he’s done recently, you can’t just say Nate Diaz is in title contention. Popularity-wise, sure. But in terms of what he’s put on paper in regard to his fighting, you can’t say that.”
“Khamzat is every bit of what you would expect a soon-to-be title challenger to be. If he gets past Nate Diaz, which will be his biggest win to date, even though the Gilbert Burns fight was fun, it will not be as valuable as a win over Nathan Diaz… I just think these guys are in different points of their careers right now, and I do believe it’s a mismatch,” DC added. [H/T BJPenn.com]
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