The five-round UFC 279 main event between Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev is just weeks away. In an interview with Submission Radio, Diaz’s coach Cesar Gracie discussed the highly interesting fight between the rising superstar Chimaev and the seasoned veteran Diaz.
“He used to fight in 185, he is 170 now, and Nate is a 155 pounder who just doesn’t want to cut weight, pretty much why he wants to fight in 170,” Gracie said. “It was a weird matchup for sure, but being five rounds and everything, I think Nate can bring him into deep water and hopefully pull something out.”
The coach gives the stand up and grappling-edge to Nate, but is well aware of Chimaev’s skills and strength.
“Khamzat is a young guy, he’s got a lot of energy, he’s very strong, he’s got very good wrestling to take it to the ground. I think what I saw in his last fight is he was taking Gilbert Burns down, but after a while he realized it was kind of dangerous down there. And the fight ended up being a stand up fight more than anything. I think Nate actually has better hands than Burns does.”
“It’s definitely a tough fight but there’s ways to win this fight.”
Read more: Khamzat’s head coach on Diaz fight: “We are not taking him lightly”
“The pressure is on Khamzat on this one”
Cesar Gracie believed that all the pressure lay on Khamzat Chimaev, who could get a title shot next with a good win. The coach thinks that the pressure and the hype on “Borz” would work in favor of Diaz, and compared it to the first fight against Conor McGregor.
“There is pressure on him to win, win convincingly and make a statement,” Gracie told Submission Radio. “We were almost in a similar situation when they brought Nate in for the McGregor fight. In certain ways. I’m thinking the pressure is on Khamzat on this one.”
“Khamzat comes out with a lot of passion. He wants to finish you. He already said this is going to be Nate’s funeral, so he is putting the pressure on himself to finish this fight pretty quick,” Gracie said.
Read more: Vicente Luque: “Khamzat stole my fight!”
Subscribe to Frontkick.online on YouTube for the best MMA videos in Scandinavia, and make sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest news and updates!
