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“More American Haters He Gets the More Fans He Gets”: Fans Mock Khamzat Chimaev After He Missed Weight Against Nate Diaz and Flipped His Middle Finger at the Crowd

Afnan Chougle
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Khamzat Chimaev

UFC fans seem displeased by the welterweight star Khamzat Chimaev after he missed weight for the UFC 279 main event against Nate Diaz and then flipped his middle finger at the crowd after being booed. 

So far, fight fans have seen two unusual things take place before UFC 279. First, the pre-fight press conference got canceled because Khamzat Chimaev got into an altercation with Kevin Holland and Nate Diaz backstage.

Later, the Russian-born Swedish fighter missed weight by 7.5lbs dismembering the fight card. All of these have added to the frustration level of the fans. Chimaev doesn’t seem to be concerned by his actions, though.

During the ceremonial weigh-ins, he came all pumped up shouting at the crowd. The Swede later showed the audience his middle fingers when they began to boo him. That was the last straw for the fans. They later slammed him in the comment section of a Twitter post.

Here are some reactions from the fans:

https://twitter.com/galexyranger/status/1568415502653091842?s=20&t=P0BLTRAMbX0ZJVzxQiCOEQ

https://twitter.com/Majick666/status/1568420743259607040?s=20&t=P0BLTRAMbX0ZJVzxQiCOEQ

Dana White explains why Khamzat Chimaev missed weight

‘Borz’ missed the weight via a heavy margin, which has had a bad impression on his career. However, the Russian-born fighter seemed to have a legitimate reason for missing the welterweight limit.

In an interview with ESPN MMA, UFC president Dana White explained the whole scenario. He stated that Chimaev was having health issues. Thus, the UFC doctors advised him to stop cutting his weight any further.

“He started locking up and cramping. All the things… that are from a bad cut… They called in, we sent a doctor and the doctor determines whether he should keep cutting weight or not and the doctor told him he shouldn’t,” White said.

Nevertheless, the promotion has reassembled the UFC 279 fight card. Now, Chimaev will fight Kevin Holland in the co-main event. Meanwhile, Chimaev’s previous opponent Nate Diaz will clash against UFC veteran Tony Ferguson in the main event. Both the fights are five rounds.

What are your thoughts on the new UFC 279 card? What is your reaction to Chimaev missing weight and later flipping fingers at fans?

About the author

Afnan Chougle

Afnan Chougle

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Afnan Chougle is a UFC author and content manager at The SportsRush. Afnan has written over 900 articles about combat sports before joining The SportsRush. He has now worked in the industry for over two years. He uses his expertise and enthusiasm to advance his professional career and offers insightful commentary on anything related to combat sports. Since UFC 229, Khabib Nurmagomedov fan Afnan has faithfully followed MMA. Besides "The Eagle," Muhammad Ali is his favorite athlete. Apart from his professional exploits as a UFC journalist, Afnan enjoys honing his skills as an amateur actor/boxer and loves going on occasional treks.

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