"Imagine, Nate finishes Chimaev in the fifth round" - Sean O'Malley shares interesting insight into possible winning strategy for Nate Diaz against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279

Sean O'Malley is one of the few people picking Nate Diaz to beat Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279. The rising bantamweight star admitted his head says Chimaev should win, but he has to follow his heart and side with Diaz.

O'Malley's prediction came in the latest episode of his BROMALLY SHOW. He said:

"Imagine Nate finishes Chimaev in the fifth round. TKO. Exhaustion. I rewatched [Chimaev vs. Burns] a few days ago before sparring, and I was like holy! That was a war, dude ... I'm going to say fifth round finish for Nate. If I go with my head, I'm saying Khamzat. If I'm going with my heart, I'm picking Nate, fifth round finish, baby! 209!"

O'Malley's brother Daniel pointed out that Chimaev got tired in his three round fight against Gilbert Burns, while Nate Diaz never seems to get tired. That does present a possible scenario where 'Borz' spends all his energy in the first twenty minutes of the fight trying to finish Diaz, only to run out of gas in the fifth.

Diaz is a triathlete with some of the best cardio in the UFC, one of the few areas where he holds a clear advantage over his fearsome opponent.

Watch Sean O'Malley discuss Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev below:

---

Sean O'Malley is looking to score a knockout win over Petr Yan at UFC 280

Nate Diaz isn't the only fighter with a big challenge coming his way in the octagon. No. 13 ranked bantamweight Sean O'Malley is set to take a big step up in competition when he faces No. 1 ranked Petr Yan at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi.

During an interview on the Full Send Podcast, O'Malley laid out how he hoped the fight would go.

"Every time I get into a fight, the goal is put him face first, knock him out. I want to get the finish, that's always the goal. Petr is one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world in my opinion. The dude's legitimate, real deal, No.1 contender. I'm going to go out there and do what I need to do to get the job done. But, ideally I'm putting him face first."

Watch Sean O'Malley on Full Send MMA below:

While Nate Diaz is a hefty +800 dog to Khamzat Chimaev's -1000 favorite, the odds are closer for Sean O'Malley vs. Petr Yan. O'Malley is a +310 underdog, while Yan is the -380 favorite. Those are still pretty wide odds, where anyone over +250 is considered a long shot to win.