Khamzat Chimiev didn’t lose weight Friday. UFC 279, changed the main event to that night, but Chimaev still won a decisive win with an impressive submission that finished Kevin Holland in round one.
The fight had barely started when Chimaev secured a takedown and immediately began looking for openings to wrap up a finish. Holland was able to keep the fight on the ground for the first exchanges, but Chimaev’s relentless attacks were a great feat.
Eventually, Chimaev latched onto a D’arce choke submission and after tightening his grip, Holland had no choice but to tap out to end the fight.
The stoppage came at just 2:13 in the opening round.
“What now? Say something?” Chimaev said in defiance while the Las Vegas crowd showered him with boos.
“I’m the most dangerous guy here. I will kill everyone. I kill everyone. Everybody is going through me. Nobody can stop me. If I die, I’ll die in the cage. I never leave the cage. It’s my home.
It took Chimaev less than one second to sprint forward to grab Holland, causing him to crash to the ground. As the fight for position continued, Holland quickly reacted to Chimaev by scrambling to try to free himself.
Holland tried everything to get out of Chimaev’s takedowns, but the Chechen wrestler wouldn’t give up until he found a way to wrap his arms around Chimaev’s neck and head.
A second later, Chimaev locked up the D’arce choke as Holland tried to roll free but each attempt just put him in more danger. Chimaev finally wrapped Holland’s leg in order to keep him from slipping, and the fight was stopped by tap.
Afterwards, Chimaev told UFC color commentator Joe Rogan that it was under a doctor’s orders that he was forced to stop cutting weight or he’s confident he could have made the welterweight limit. Chimaev said that he would return to 170 weight and plans to conquer the middleweight category as well.
” I’m going to both weight classes,” Chimaev stated. We’ll be going for both belts .”
