3 reasons why Khamzat Chimaev vs. Nate Diaz is the fight to make and 2 reasons why the UFC should avoid it

#2. Fight to make - Theoretically, Nate Diaz should be a good stylistic match for Khamzat Chimaev

Khamzat Chimaev's wrestling skills might give Nate Diaz some serious problems

A fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz would only truly work for the UFC if Chimaev were to win. Thankfully, the clash sounds like a stylistically good fight for the Chechen-born Swede anyway.

As we’ve seen thus far during his UFC career, Khamzat Chimaev is an absolutely exceptional wrestler and grappler. He’s taken three of his four opponents down with ease, essentially ragdolling them. From top position, he’s a beast with both submissions and ground strikes.

Nate Diaz is, of course, a stellar grappler in his own right. He’s a high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, with eight victories by tapout to his name in the UFC. However, he’s also shown a vulnerability to takedowns and wrestling throughout his tenure with the promotion. The majority of his 11 UFC defeats have come at the hands of powerful wrestlers.

Diaz could attempt to stand with ‘Borz’ instead, but realistically, if Chimaev were to look for a takedown, he’d probably find it.

More to the point, Diaz is now 36 years old. Judging by his most recent fights, the years of wars that he’s taken part in appear to be catching up with him. He now looks less fleet-footed than he once did and doesn’t appear to have quite the same gas tank that he had in his prime.

All in all, a fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz, on paper at least, would hugely favor the No.10-ranked welterweight, making it a smart one for the UFC to book.

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#1. Fight to make - If Khamzat Chimaev were to beat Nate Diaz, the UFC would be in the driving seat

If Khamzat Chimaev were to beat Nate Diaz, he could send him packing from the UFC with three straight losses

Nate Diaz’s UFC record isn’t the best and he hasn’t actually won a fight since his 2019 victory over Anthony Pettis. Howeber, the native of Stockton still remains one of the promotion’s most bankable stars.

With just one fight remaining on his current deal and no indication that he’s willing to sign an extension, there’s a very real chance that Diaz could find himself outside the UFC in the very near future. The promotion would obviously love to ink Diaz to a new deal, but if he is set on testing the waters as a free agent, then from the promotion’s standpoint, it’d be better if he did so coming off a loss.

That would mean Diaz would end his deal with three straight losses, massively denting his negotiating power regardless of his ability to draw the fans in.

Therefore, the UFC would be best to book him in with a stylistically tricky matchup for his final fight. As mentioned previously, Khamzat Chimaev appears to be a horrible stylistic match for the TUF 5 winner.

We’ve seen the UFC pull this tactic on numerous occasions before, most notably when they booked Lyoto Machida as Tito Ortiz’s final opponent in 2008, prior to his free agency. Ultimately, it is a move than tends to work.

With that considered, then, from the UFC’s standpoint, it may well make perfect sense to put this fight together as soon as possible.