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At UFC 279 in a couple of weeks’ time, one of the biggest fights of 2022 will go down as veteran Nate Diaz will attempt to stop highly touted prospect Khamzat Chimaev in his tracks.
Very few UFC fans are giving Nate Diaz a chance of beating Khamzat Chimaev, but naturally, there’s always the chance that the Stockton-based fighter could pull off an upset.
If Diaz does want to defeat ‘Borz’, then, how should he go about attempting to do so? It’s hard to say entirely, but there are some steps to victory for him.
Here are five things Nate Diaz needs to do to defeat Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279.
#5. Nate Diaz should get into Khamzat Chimaev’s head before the fight
Thus far into his career with the UFC, one thing Khamzat Chimaev hasn’t really had to deal with all that much is mental warfare. He was largely unknown coming into his first two bouts in the octagon, and has since faced three opponents hardly renowned for their trash talk.
Sure, ‘Borz’ has shown the ability to verbally poke at his prospective opponents in his own right, often taking to Twitter to call various fighters out, but he certainly hasn’t come across a foe like Nate Diaz just yet.
That’s why it could be important for Diaz to attempt to get into his head before the fight begins, both at promotional events like press conferences and also at the pre-fight weigh-ins.
Diaz is a highly unique fighter when it comes to mental warfare. Unlike his rival Conor McGregor, who uses the microphone masterfully to anger his foes, the Stockton-based fighter doesn’t exactly produce many memorable verbal barbs.
Instead, his devil-may-care attitude is usually enough to frustrate his opponents anyway, as is his confrontational nature, particularly during staredowns.
If Diaz was able to get into the minds of McGregor and Donald Cerrone, then there’s definitely a chance that he could do the same to Chimaev before their fight – potentially throwing ‘Borz’ off his game.
#4. Nate Diaz should look to keep Khamzat Chimaev at range with his boxing
Despite his UFC career only dating back to the summer of 2020, Khamzat Chimaev has already proven that he carries serious power in his punches.
Not only did ‘Borz’ turn out the lights on Gerald Meerschaert with one big shot just 17 seconds into their bout, but he also scored some heavy punches on Gilbert Burns, knocking the Brazilian down and hurting him on multiple occasions.
However, from a technical perspective, it’s arguable that Chimaev’s boxing isn’t quite on the same level as the boxing of Nate Diaz.
Sure, Diaz won’t enjoy a huge reach advantage over ‘Borz’ – just one inch – but he is brilliant at keeping his foes at range and at the end of his punches. More to the point, he’s a master at chaining together combinations – mixing up power punches with his famous ‘Stockton slap’ – and also possesses an excellent jab.
If Chimaev comes in winging haymakers and hoping to knock Diaz out early, then he might find himself sorely mistaken. If he does that, there’s every chance that Diaz simply keeps him at the end of his combinations and outboxes him, using his iron chin to absorb any big shots that do make it through.
#3. Nate Diaz should use an active guard if he is taken down
Even if Nate Diaz can find a way to outbox Khamzat Chimaev, ‘Borz’ still holds a big advantage over the veteran in the form of his powerful wrestling game. Diaz has never possessed the best takedown defense, and it’s fair to say that Chimaev’s takedowns are outstanding.
It’d be largely unrealistic to suggest that Diaz should look to stop the takedowns when they come, but on the ground, he might hold a bit of a trump card over ‘Borz’ in the form of his very tricky guard game.
A high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Diaz has secured a total of eight submission wins during his UFC tenure, with many of them coming from his guard after he’d been taken down.
In this case, though, it’d be highly risky for Diaz to constantly hunt for submissions, as that might open him up to Chimaev’s ground-and-pound. Given the amount of scar tissue he has on his face and head, if he were to eat a lot of elbows, it’d be likely that he’d suffer a bad cut – something that could be fight-ending.
However, Diaz definitely has the skills from his back to disrupt Chimaev’s attacks, and so in this fight, he’d be better off looking to sweep or reverse the Chechen-born Swede, or at least prevent him from posturing up to deliver strikes.
Of course, if the opportunity were to arise, then the veteran should go for a submission – but for the most part, simply using his guard to avoid heavy ground-and-pound would give him a shot of pulling off an upset.
#2. Nate Diaz should try to get into Khamzat Chimaev’s head during the fight
While it’d be a smart idea for Nate Diaz to attempt to get into Khamzat Chimaev’s head before their fight at UFC 279, it’d be equally as smart for the veteran to attempt some mental warfare during the fight, too.
Few fighters in UFC history have been as successful in doing this as the Stockton-based fighter. Outside of the octagon, he might not have the smart mouth of a Conor McGregor or Chael Sonnen, but when he’s talking trash to an opponent during a bout, it’s hard to deny his effectiveness in throwing them off their game.
Diaz has done this against multiple opponents, but one of the best examples of it succeeding for him came in his 2015 bout with Michael Johnson.
Early in the fight, Johnson’s quicker hands appeared to be giving him the edge – but Diaz eventually suckered him in by taunting him, drawing him into a brawl that turned out to be massively to his benefit.
Chimaev may come into this bout at UFC 279 with a clear-cut gameplan, but if he can’t knock Diaz out early – which, given the veteran’s iron chin, is likely – then how will he react to Diaz taunting him mercilessly?
If his reaction is similar to that of Johnson or Donald Cerrone – becoming more wild and throwing nothing but haymakers – then it could play right into Diaz’s hands, allowing him to pull off a stirring upset.
#1. Nate Diaz should push the pace as much as he can
With a powerful wrestling game, excellent submissions and brutal knockout power in his arsenal, it’s easy to see why Khamzat Chimaev has quickly become one of the most highly touted prospects to hit the UFC in some time.
However, ‘Borz’ has shown one weakness in his game thus far. In his most recent fight with Gilbert Burns, when he could not put the former welterweight title challenger away, he clearly tired himself out and looked completely exhausted midway through the bout.
Sure, he was still able to gut the fight out and ended up edging a decision, but to see him sucking wind in this way was still concerning. For Nate Diaz, though, the fact that Chimaev’s gas tank might be questionable is something that he should definitely try to exploit.
Like his brother Nick, Diaz’s own gas tank is absolutely unquestionable. A noted triathlete outside of the octagon, we’ve seen the Stockton-based fighter fight in lengthy wars on numerous occasions in the past without ever getting tired.
More to the point, unlike Chimaev, Diaz has gone five rounds on numerous occasions, including in his most recent fight with new UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards. In fact, in that bout, Diaz came close to finishing ‘Rocky’ late in the fifth round.
With that in mind, then, Diaz should look to push as torrid a pace as he can manage against Chimaev and allow him to exhaust himself early. If he can do that, then there’s the chance that he could become easy pickings for the veteran in the later rounds.
