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Dominick Cruz has explained why booking the Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev matchup was a great business move. Cruz, a UFC analyst and former UFC bantamweight champion, suggested that the UFC wants Diaz’s aura to rub off on Khamzat Chimaev.
Nate Diaz himself recently claimed that the UFC has been adamant about booking him against Khamzat Chimaev, as Dana White plans on using Diaz to turn ‘Borz’ into another superstar for the company. The consensus is that freestyle wrestling wizard Khamzat Chimaev is a bad stylistic matchup for Diaz, who has struggled against elite wrestlers throughout his career.
Memes have started emerging about the matchup:
Diaz has just one fight left on his UFC contract and is unlikely to re-sign with the promotion. Speaking to The Schmo, Cruz alluded to the aforementioned variables at play and stated:
“You’ve got Diaz. He’s said a lot. And again, how big is Diaz’s following? It’s huge. He’s got a huge following. So, you wanna put him against a guy that doesn’t have a very big following while Diaz is on the end of his contract? Again, it’s about business for the UFC."
Cruz further added:
"So, if you get Khamzat to beat Diaz, then you kind of, sort of, get Diaz’s following to Khamzat. And Khamzat’s gonna be there. He’s been active. What the UFC wants is – they like active fighters. Guys that are fighting two, three, four times a year for cheap amounts of money. Khamzat’s that.”
‘The Dominator’ lauded the UFC's business acumen and labeled them as “geniuses.” Watch Cruz discuss the topic at 5:24 in the video below:
Chael Sonnen questions the point of the Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev matchup
Nate Diaz is expected to fight Khamzat Chimaev in a five-round welterweight bout that’ll headline UFC 279 on September 10. In a recent edition of Beyond the Fight, MMA legend Chael Sonnen weighed in and questioned the UFC'S matchmaking.
‘The American Gangster’ noted that with Nate Diaz set to leave the UFC, the discussed matchup with Chimaev isn’t as appealing as it ought to be. Sonnen highlighted that there’s no title or No.1- contender status on the line in the fight. He said:
“We can't call it a number one contender's match when one guy isn't coming [to be No. 1 contender], we know that going in. So what are we doing? Do these two have a personal beef? Well, I got some bad news there, no, they don't."
Watch Sonnen's assessment below:
