Khamzat Chimaev truly embraced being the villain before and after winning at UFC 279.
The 14-0 Russian phenom was supposed to face Nate Diaz in his farewell fight in September 2022.
Khamzat Chimaev‘s egregious 7.5lb weight miss meant a last-minute UFC 279 reshuffle was needed.
Tony Ferguson stepped in to face Diaz, while Kevin Holland agreed to a 180lb catchweight clash with ‘Borz’.
Watch Khamzat Chimaev snatch Joe Rogan’s mic at UFC 279
Khamzat Chimaev ran through Kevin Holland to score a 133-second submission win at UFC 279.
Fans inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas loudly booed as Bruce Buffer announced the official result.
Before Joe Rogan could get his first post-fight interview question out, the controversial contender snatched his mic and barked back at the booing crowd.
“Hey, so what now?” Chimaev screamed. “Say something! So what now?
“I f— up all your boys. This is Chechyana, b—-.
“I’m the most dangerous guy here. I’m coming for everyone. I’ll kill everybody. “
The crowd’s jeers got louder and louder every time Chimaev spoke following his UFC 279 victory.
After nearly four minutes battling to keep his mic, Rogan praised Chimaev for his performance and exited the Octagon with it (just about) still in his hand.
Khamzat Chimaev headlines UFC 319
Khamzat Chimaev moved up to middleweight after failing to hit the welterweight limit at UFC 279.
Since then, he’s won back a bunch of fans with wins over Kamaru Usman and Robert Whittaker.
Chimaev is just one of three active UFC fighters with over 10 million followers on Instagram ahead of his first title fight.
The 31-year-old will square off against middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319.
Chimaev can become the biggest star on the UFC roster by dethroning ‘DDP’ on Saturday night.