Khamzat Chimaev was recently involved in a dust-up with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin, Abubakar Nurmagomedov, at UFC 280. New footage of the incident made the rounds online and revealed what was said when they crossed paths at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
In the video, Chimaev is seen greeting Nurmagomedov by giving him a playful tap on the stomach. ‘Borz’ also congratulated Nurmagomedov, who picked up a unanimous decision victory over Gadzhi Omargadzhiev earlier in the evening.
However, Nurmagomeov apparently didn’t appreciate the gesture and told Chimaev: “Hey, you could’ve done it without it, just carefully come up then go.” Taking offense to Abubakar’s response, Chimaev retorted:
“I will do it however I want.”
The friendly exchange then turned hostile when Chimaev decided to push Nurmagomedov, causing a scene. Chimaev proceeded to throw punches at Nurmagomedov before security personnel were able to break them apart.
Check out the footage below:
Fortunately, the former undefeated UFC lightweight champion was able to smooth things out between the two. They were later photographed sharing a meal together, confirming that the beef has been squashed.
Khabib Nurmagomedov shares insight into the Khamzat Chimaev – Abubakar Nurmagomedov scuffle
Khabib Nurmagomedov was instrumental to building the bridges between Khamzat Chimaev and Abubakar Nurmagomedov.
However, the UFC Hall of Famer seemed disappointed that the incident escalated into a physical altercation.
“What happened yesterday does not show us well. Neither me nor Khamzat nor Abubakar. To tell the truth, we are tired of this nonsense. Here we are gathered as brothers, talked to each other, and we apologized to each other, hugged and inshallah I hope that in the future that we will only gather and fight for good reasons. That was today.”
The Dagestani UFC legend also extended his endorsement to Khamzat Chimaev:
“Islam won the belt at first. The next one, very close, is going to be Khamzat. Khamzat, let us all get together so when Khamzat wins the belt, it’s not for the showing off, not for this conversation that we are going to celebrate. We will celebrate for our new champion, inshallah… I hope that this is our sad moment that it will never happen to anyone else.”
Watch the video below:
