Marvin Vettori claims Nate Diaz would’ve had a better chance of beating Khamzat Chimaev if they fought before ‘Borz’ faced Gilbert Burns.
During his appearance at UFC Media Day for the Paris event, Vettori claimed that Diaz would have had a better shot at defeating ‘Borz’ before his encounter with Gilbert Burns.
‘The Italian Dream’ explained that Chimaev would have walked in over-confident in his fight against Diaz prior to facing ‘Durinho’:
“I mean, obviously he’s [Chimaev] the favorite. But you know, I think more like, if he would have fought Diaz before he fought ‘Durinho’, Diaz would have more time because he [Chimaev] would be so full of himself, he might would’ve gassed and then, if it was a five-rounder, Nate maybe could have capitalized.”
After running through his first four opponents in the UFC, Chimaev faced a huge step-up in competition against Gilbert Burns. The two welterweights slugged it out for three-rounds at UFC 273 and delivered a solid ‘Fight of the Year’ contender.
The bout ended with ‘Borz’ getting his hand raised via unanimous decision. All three scorecards read 29-28 in favor of the Chechen-born Swede.
You can watch Vettori’s full appearance at the media day below:
Li Jingliang believes Nate Diaz could possibly pull off a miracle at UFC 279
During a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, Li Jingliang shared his thoughts on the upcoming UFC 279 main event. ‘The Leech’ is familiar with Khamzat Chimaev as the two fought at UFC 267. ‘Borz’ overwhelmed Jingliang with his grappling skills and submitted him in the very first round.
In the interview, ‘The Leech’ said that although people expect Chimaev to emerge victorious, MMA is an unpredictable sport and Diaz could pull off a huge upset come fight night:
“I think Khamzat never fight in five-round fights. And another big X factor is Nate Diaz is Nate Diaz. You don’t know what happens if the fight goes to the fifth round, or the last minute, last seconds, if you fight against Nate Diaz. What we really need, what the fans really need is a miracle. It’s a surprise in the fight, and I believe Nate Diaz is the guy who can give you this.”
Jingliang is also scheduled to fight on the UFC 279 card. The 34-year-old will take on UFC veteran Tony Ferguson in a three-round welterweight bout.