Nate Diaz opponent Khamzat Chimaev involved in backstage brawl at UFC event forcing raging Dana White to cancel
KHAMZAT Chimaev was involved in a shocking backstage brawl at a chaotic UFC event, reports say.
Chimaev, 28, brawled with fighter Kevin Holland, forcing a red-faced Dana White to cancel the UFC 279 press conference.
UFC President White opened the delayed presser in Las Vegas, announcing an “absolute s***show back there” – but he would not confirm if a brawl between the fighters took place.
The press conference only lasted about five minutes with Kevin Holland and Daniel Rodriguez briefly appearing on stage for a quick interview before the entire event was shuttered, ESPN reported.
“I apologize, everybody,” White said addressing the crowd. “I am in very weird waters here. This has never happened in the history of this company.
“Trust me when I tell you this is the right decision not to do this press conference right now,” he added, getting hit with a barrage of boos.
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“Yeah, I hear you. I’m with you, but for everybody’s safety, this is the right decision. I apologize. Thanks for coming,” he added.
White later said: “This is the craziest press conference we’ve ever had, that’s for sure.
“This is a first and I guarantee you it will be the last.”
ESPN reported that Chimaev walked toward Holland backstage and hit him with a front kick before being pulled away by Li Jingliang, who is fighting Tony Ferguson on Saturday.
A source told ESPN that members of Nate’s team started arguing with Chimaev and Tiki Ghosn before throwing bottles at their respective teams.
According to White, Ghosn was hit in the head with water bottles and was repeatedly slapped and kicked.
Earlier this week, while speaking to ESPN, Chimaev said he was ready to fight Diaz and his team before the main event.
“If they wanna fight before (Saturday), f*** the money, brother, I’m gonna fight with them. I love to fight,” he said.
“I’ve been born for war. I’m inside a warrior, don’t care. When the fight comes, you don’t care about money or what’s behind it, just fight.”
The latest controversy comes after Diaz revealed he nearly “beat up” UFC president White in a Las Vegas nightclub.
The youngest Diaz brother has enjoyed a colorful relationship with the MMA mogul over the years.
Diaz hasn’t seen eye to eye with White or the UFC brass over the last year – accusing the promotion of “slow rolling” him and trying to stretch out his contract for as long as possible.
But the recent feud isn’t the first time he’s had issues with White, who he almost gave his patented Stockton slap following a row many moons ago.
He told ESPN: “I almost beat up Dana White in a club one time here too, you should’ve seen it.
I almost beat up Dana White.
Nate Diaz
“He was talking s**t and I was arguing with him. I was mad at him — I shouldn’t have been mad at him, I understand.
“It was a long time ago, when Gilbert [Melendez] did The Ultimate Fighter.
“Everybody had gotten off the show and then we went to the club when Dana and them were having a big afterparty, and then Dana’s all [drunk].
“He’s all, ‘What’s up, motherf****r?’ I was like, ‘What’s up?’ And he’s telling me about, ‘What do you want?’
“I was like, ‘What the f**k do you think I want? More money and better fights than everyone here.’
“It’s because I was never on the destination for a title though, at the time.”
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Veteran fight promoter White played down the incident earlier this week.
On Tuesday, he said with a smile on his face: “Allegedly. Allegedly. We were drinking.”