UFC

Khamzat Chimaev finished a turbulent weekend on a positive note with a first-round submission win over Kevin Holland in the co-main event of UFC 279 from Las Vegas.

The action was fast and furious from the start, as Chimaev immediately jumped on a takedown attempt at the opening bell, and Holland was forced to scramble just to survive.

While he was successful for a bit, the inevitability of Chimaev was too much. He latched on to a D'Arce choke, and while it had to be reapplied a few times, he locked it in and drew the tap from Holland.

The win keeps Chimaev from a disastrous weekend, but it's hard to consider him a winner all things considered. Chimaev was given a golden opportunity to show off his skills against a relatively big draw in Nate Diaz as the headliner.

Instead, he was relegated to fighting Holland after weighing 7.5 pounds over the 171-pound allowance in the welterweight division.

UFC President Dana White shed some light on why Chimaev missed weight so badly.

"He was very, very lean already, and he should have come in on weight," White told reporters. "He started to cut weight, and he started locking up and cramping and all the things that happen from a bad cut."

Regardless, Chimaev kept his winning streak alive despite the last-minute opponent change.

It does open up questions about what happens next for the 28-year-old. Chimaev seemed like a lock for a title shot with a win at UFC 279, but now there's the question of whether he can continue making the cut down to 170 pounds.

This is the first time he has missed weight in the UFC, but at 6'2", he's a big welterweight.

As long as he can prove this was a one-time fluke, he's likely to continue his ascent as a UFC star.

Conor McGregor declared Saturday morning that a third fight between himself and Nate Diaz will happen at some point.

McGregor made the statement as part of a tweet in which he congratulated Diaz on having the final fight of his UFC contract at UFC 279 on Saturday night:

Diaz was originally supposed to face Khamzat Chimaev, but when the latter missed weight on Friday, Tony Ferguson was installed as Diaz's opponent. At the conclusion of the main event of UFC 279, Diaz will have fulfilled his contractual obligations to UFC.

There is seemingly no imminent end in sight to McGregor's UFC deal, meaning Diaz would either have to sign a new contract with UFC or McGregor would have to wait for his UFC contract to expire in order for them to fight for a third time.

McGregor, 34, is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters and biggest draws in UFC history. He was once viewed as perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter as well, but it was Diaz who put a stop to that.

Entering UFC 196 in 2016, McGregor owned a career professional record of 19-2 and hadn't lost since 2010. Shockingly, Diaz beat him by submission with a rear-naked choke in the second round.

McGregor got revenge in somewhat controversial fashion at UFC 202, beating Diaz by majority decision.

Since that win, McGregor is just 2-3, including losing back-to-back losses against Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 and 264. He broke his leg at UFC 264 in July 2021 and hasn't fought since.

The 37-year-old Diaz has struggled since beating McGregor, losing three of his past four bouts. He was away for three years after losing to McGregor before returning to beat Anthony Pettis at UFC 241.

Diaz followed that up with losses to Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards at UFC 244 and 263, respectively, but he is looking to end his UFC tenure on a high note Saturday.

While Diaz's future in MMA is very much in question, there would likely be plenty of interest in a Diaz vs. McGregor trilogy fight given how entertaining their first two encounters were.

Nate Diaz will now face off against Tony Ferguson in the UFC 279 main event after his previously scheduled opponent, Khamzat Chimaev, missed weight by seven-and-a-half pounds Friday morning.

That has led to a full shakeup of the UFC 279 main card. Ferguson was scheduled to fight on the main card against Li Jingliang, but the latter fighter will now face off against Daniel Rodriguez. Kevin Holland was originally scheduled to face Daniel Rodriguez

Dana White made the announcement on SportsCenter's Instagram page, per ESPN's Marc Raimondi.

Diaz and Chimaev were supposed to headline UFC 279 at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena with a welterweight bout Saturday. Diaz weighed in at 171 pounds, but Chimaev dropped in at 178.5 pounds.

The rest of the main card includes bouts featuring Irene Aldana and Macy Chiasson and Johnny Walker and Ion Cuțelaba.

Diaz has just one fight left on his UFC contract before he breaks free from the promotion. The 37-year-old sports a lifetime professional record of 20-13. His career includes wins over Conor McGregor, Anthony Pettis, Jim Miller and Donald Cerrone.

The eight-time Fight of the Night winner's last match occurred in June 2021, when he lost via unanimous decision to the current UFC welterweight champion, Leon Edwards.

Ferguson, 38, is the former UFC interim lightweight champion. He's gone 25-7 in his career, including a stretch where he won 18 of 19 matches and 12 in a row.

Ferguson has lost his last four matches, with his most recent fight ending in a second-round knockout against Michael Chandler at UFC 274 in May.

Khamzat Chimaev's coach explained what led to a backstage brawl prior to the scheduled UFC 279 press conference on Thursday:

Andreas Michael said Chimaev was alone with Kevin Holland and his group backstage before Chimaev hit Holland with a "boot in the chest," and then Nate Diaz and his team got involved:

The melee caused the cancellation of the press conference, and UFC president Dana White later called the situation a "complete s--tshow," per ESPN's Marc Raimondi.

Saturday's UFC 279 card had been scheduled to be headlined by a fight between Chimaev and Diaz, with Holland on the undercard against Daniel Rodriguez.

As reported by Raimondi, however, Chimaev weighed in 7.5 pounds over the 171-pound limit on Friday, putting his clash with Diaz in jeopardy.

Ariel Helwani of BT Sport followed up by reporting that Chimaev missing weight was due to a "medical issue," although further specifics were not available.

Holland, who made weight for his bout, trolled Chimaev on Twitter after the undefeated Russian star weighed in well over the welterweight limit:

Michael suggested that Holland was attempting to goad Chimaev into an eventual fight on Thursday, but insisted that Chimaev would not take a fight with him since he wants to fight champions and not fighters he feels are below him.

Ironically, Helwani reported that because of the weight issue, UFC's preference is to pivot and have Diaz face Tony Ferguson in the main event with Chimaev dropping down to fight Holland.

While there would undoubtedly be interest in Chimaev vs. Holland following their tussle, Helwani noted that "some are in" and "some aren't" when it comes to the potential adjustments.

UFC President Dana White said Friday he has no interest in discussing Jake Paul or the YouTube star's upcoming boxing match against UFC legend Anderson Silva.

"I don't care about that," White told TMZ Sports. "I literally was saying the other day, everybody keeps asking me about Jake. This guy's not even in my sport. I don't care."

White and Paul have engaged in a long-running war of words, which started with the YouTuber suggesting UFC fighters should receive better pay and benefits.

The UFC president took part in the verbal exchanges for a while, saying Paul should start his own MMA promotion if he has all the answers, but he's maintained a stance lately that he's ready to move on from the conversation for good.

"Stop asking me about Jake Paul, you guys. I don't give a s--t what Jake Paul does," White said in August.

Paul hasn't been so quick to let the rivalry fade, recently using previous footage of White discussing the potential of a Paul vs. Silva showdown to help promote the Oct. 29 fight.

While it doesn't seem like White will be interested in the bout, it does carry a fair bit of intrigue as the YouTuber continues to climb the boxing ranks.

Paul has yet to face a classically trained boxer, but he's steadily built himself in that direction.

First, he knocked out fellow YouTube star Ali "AnEsonGib" Al-Fakhri and former NBA player Nate Robinson. Then he moved on to MMA fighters, beating Ben Askren before back-to-back victories over Tyron Woodley.

Now he'll take on Silva, who's one of the most decorated fighters to step in the Octagon. He's also got some boxing experience, with a 3-1 record in four fights, most recently beating fellow longtime MMA fighter Tito Ortiz last September.

If Paul extends his record to 6-0 with a win over Silva, it'll be time for him to take on at least a semi-accomplished boxer if he truly wants to start making progress within the sport.

Saturday's UFC 279 event between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz is still scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, but there was no pre-fight press conference on Thursday.

UFC President Dana White canceled the press conference and said it was a "s--t show" backstage, per Damon Martin of MMA Fighting. Martin noted it "sounds like there was some kind of altercation between the fighters that forced the format to change."

White went on to say "for everybody's safety, this is the right decision" and added, "I'm in very weird waters, this has never happened in the history of this company."

MMA reporter Ariel Helwani provided more details about what transpired:

Perhaps it isn't much of a surprise there was an incident.

After all, Chimaev suggested he was willing to fight before Saturday during an interview with ESPN (h/t Jesse Holland of MMA Mania):

"If they wanna fight before (Saturday), f--k the money, brother, I'm gonna fight with them. I love to fight. I've been born for war. I'm inside a warrior, don't care. When the fights come, you don't care about money or what's behind it, just fight. If he wants to fight there with his team, I have like 20 guys with me. We'll fight with all the teams, you know. I hope so. I would love if it happens, something crazy things there. His team is old, brother. My team is fresh. We kill this. His team almost handicapped, brother."

Thursday's canceled press conference is another storyline heading into Saturday's matchup.

Holland noted Chimaev could earn a 170-pound title shot if he defeats Diaz, although he may have to wait until Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman fight for a third time.

While those in attendance Thursday didn't see the press conference they expected, Tony Ferguson provided some entertainment:

Ferguson will face Li Jingliang as part of Saturday's card. Elsewhere, Kevin Holland will go up against Daniel Rodriguez, Irene Aldana will face Macy Chiasson, and Johnny Walker will fight Ion Cutelaba.

Yet the main event at T-Mobile Arena will be between Diaz and Chimaev.

Diaz is 21-13-0 and coming off two straight losses, while Chimaev is 11-0-0.