Khabib criticises Khamzat: "There are no Muslims around him"

Khabib Nurmagomedov was not a fan of Khamzat Chimaev’s antics ahead of UFC 279.

The former UFC lightweight champion claims that “Borz” Chimaev’s team is partly to blame for the chaos ahead of UFC 279, where Khamzat was originally set to take on Nate Diaz in the main event. Khamzat managed to pick fights with both Kevin Holland and top-ranked middleweight Paulo Costa during fight week, as well as switch up half of the main card after weighing in at a whopping 178.5 lbs – 7.5 lbs over the welterweight limit.

During both the official weigh-ins and the ceremonial weigh-ins Khamzat also took the opportunity to flip off the crowd! That might explain why the young prospect was booed during his walkout to the octagon, where he submitted “Trailblazer” Holland in the first round.

Khabib believes he knows why Khamzat acted the way he did.

“If you are a Muslim, you should have good people around you, like good Muslims who can say: ‘Hey, don’t do this,'” Khabib said. “I recently watched the weigh-in of Khamzat Chimaev. I followed what was happening with his weight and looked at his team. There are no Muslims around him and this is very bad. Because if you are a Muslim, you need good, strong people around you. (They) will say: ‘Come back, do this.'”

“When you become famous and rich, when you gain power and there are no people who will give advice, or you do not listen to them, then something will happen. You need good people, even if you don’t like it, you need them.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov at the Birmingham Human Appeal event talking about Khamzat Chimaev and giving us an important reminder on surrounding yourself with the right people. pic.twitter.com/eDrjx1F4SU

— Borz (@Borz4562) September 11, 2022

It’s worth noting that Khabib missed weight on several occasions throughout his undefeated UFC career. Ahead of his fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 209 Khabib was hospitalised after a brutal weight cut.