Dan Hardy believes the UFC’s booking of Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev is almost criminal.
Earlier in the month, UFC announced that Diaz & Chimaev would headline UFC 279, on Sept. 10 in Las Vegas. This fight immediately attracted criticisms from UFC fans and Dan Hardy, a former UFC commentator could not disagree more.
“It seems like we are getting to the stage where someone should think about pressing charges,” Hardy said to Ariel Helwani during The MMA Hour . “It doesn’t feel like a fair fight. It feels like a very, very cruel thing to do to someone that is a legitimate legend. They will be executed on television because they have spoken out against this organization. That’s kind of how it feels, and it makes me feel uncomfortable to think that’s the way it’s going to go down.”
Diaz is on the last fight of his UFC contract and has been attempting to exit the UFC for some time now. Diaz appeared on The MMA Hour earlier this month and claimed that the UFC was holding him “hostage” by refusing to let him fight while trying to resign him.
If the UFC had been able to sign Diaz, it would have not booked the Chimaev bout. Instead, the UFC was looking at Dustin Poirier vs. Diaz. This matchup was originally scheduled for UFC 230 but was postponed. But with Diaz anxious to leave the promotion and pursue other opportunities, including potentially a lucrative boxing match with Jake Paul, the UFC finally gave him a fight – one that, on paper, appears to be extremely difficult.
Hardy simply hopes the matchmaking doesn’t seriously harm Diaz.
” I hope that Nate gets through this alright but, after seeing what Khamzat did for Rhys McKee, and John Phillips, it became clear to me that while Nate has good jiujitsu, there is a point when good wrestling takes over. “It happened in the early days of the UFC, and it would happen against Nate if it hits the floor. He gets nullified, and I believe he is beaten to death from his top spot. It’s not going to be a pleasant experience to see and it will make the UFC look very poor.
“I just hope Nate comes through it alright, because I think he’s got good opportunities outside the UFC. It’s just a shame that they’re going to do this assassination attempt on him before he leaves.”
Diaz is not the only person who believes this matchup to be near unwinnable. According to the oddsmakers, Chimaev was selected as the -1100 favourite. This suggests a 91. win probability. 67 win chance. Even though Diaz has been able to thrive in an underdog role, such as when he submitted Conor McGregor at UFC 196 on short notice — it is unlikely that he will remain a huge underdog despite being popular. Hardy stated that it speaks volumes about the UFC’s poor business practices.
” I love Khamzat Chimiev, but they are in very different places right now,” Hardy stated. He’s rising, and Diaz is an icon that is about to go. This is a fight that should not be taking place. It’s possible that Nate will pull it off, which would be Diaz’s most impressive thing. He’ll leave the scene with a smile and the feeling of accomplishment.
” I think I have said all I could. It’s very sad that this is happening and we cannot celebrate the fighters who are coming to an end of their careers. But it’s the UFC’s style, isn’t it? They will try everything they can to harm you if they part ways with you. Unfortunately, if you’re a fighter and they want to damage you, they can actually physically do it, which is a shame.”
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