According to the laws of Chael Sonnen, Khamzat Chimaev suffered the first loss of his career by not making his contracted weight against Nate Diaz.
Sonnen has some strong feelings about the events that transpired ahead of UFC 279, which was supposed to be headlined by Diaz vs Chimaev. That would all change however, when Chimaev came in massively overweight, resulting in an unprecedented shuffling of the fight card that changes the top three bouts on the bill.
Chael Sonnen Thinks Diaz Beat Chimaev
Taking to his YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen expressed his feelings on this bizarre situation with Khamzat Chimaev. Here, he explained that no matter what situation is being settled, if it is being settled with competition there are agreed upon rules that are followed, to avoid the ability to make excuses after the fact.
When it comes to combat sports, Sonnen says that the most important rules, the ones that are contractually obligated, are “the date and the weight” the fight is to be contested. So just like he would not receive sympathy if he showed up to the arena on the wrong day, Chimaev should receive no sympathy for not making the agreed upon weight.
Using this logic in combination with some insights from his time as a wrestler, Chael Sonnen could only come to one simple conclusion: Nate Diaz beat Khamzat Chimaev on the scales. Regardless of how the fight would have played out at UFC 279, he says that Nate found himself a way to beat Chimaev.
“I told you Nate Diaz was going to win this fight,” Sonnen said. “I’m not telling you he’s a better striker, you never heard me say that. I’m not telling you Nate Diaz is a better grappler, you never heard me say that, not once. Never said he was a better wrestler, never said he was going to be in better positions, as a matter of fact I never even said he wasn’t going to get his ass kicked, ’cause he was. I told you he was going to win. That’s how these things are contested. Not who’s got a belt, not who showed off more. Who can win at one specific moment that is enough to end the evening.”
Chael Sonnen concluded the video by making it clear that he did not think Nate Diaz should have ignored Khamzat Chimaev’s weight miss, while also stating that this does not mean Diaz won the fight. This is an interesting way to look at this situation, which has turned into one of the most memorable events in UFC history.
Do you think Chael Sonnen has a point? Did Nate Diaz “Beat” Khamzat Chimaev?
