Chris Avila has taken aim at UFC welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev.
Earlier this month, ‘Borz’ was set to headline UFC 279 in his first pay-per-view headlining role. Opposite Chimaev was a longtime fan favorite, Nate Diaz. The Stockton slugger was on the last fight of his UFC contract, and the Chechen was given the task of dispatching of him.
However, the two stars didn’t wound up fighting at the T-Mobile Arena earlier this month. The headliner was called off on weigh-in day, as Chimaev missed weight by nearly eight pounds. As a result, the UFC was forced to get creative.
The promotion kept Nate Diaz in the main event and moved up Tony Ferguson from a bout with Li Jingliang. In turn, Chimaev was bumped down and faced Kevin Holland, who was also set for the event.
At UFC 279, both stars wound up getting big victories. Diaz submitted ‘El Cucuy’ in round four, while Chimaev submitted ‘Trailblazer’ in round one. Following the contest, UFC president Dana White stated that the Chechen would likely move to middleweight.
Weeks after the weight miss, it seems that most of the MMA world has moved on. However, team Diaz and Chris Avila seemingly haven’t forgotten. The Stockton native threw shots at Chimaev during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.
In the interview, Avila stated that his teammate, Diaz, went 2-0 earlier this month due to the weight miss. The fighter-turned-boxer, who returns on Jake Paul’s undercard next month, also criticized Chimaev’s unprofessionalism.
“Yeah, that was a crazy two weeks. The whole time it got crazier and crazier day by day,” stated Chris Avila. “That whole turnout was insane. The Khamzat thing, that was very unprofessional of him. Good things happen to good people. Nate’s a f*cking good dude and Khamzat’s not too good of a dude.”
He continued, “He’s a f*cking piece of s*it for missing weight, and that’s on him. He’s not going to get that back, so it’s whatever. That was 2-0 for Nate, dog.”
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