Nick Maximov may be fighting Andre Petroski later tonight (Sat., May 14, 2022) at UFC Vegas 54 live on ESPN2/ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, but the Nate Diaz teammate still finds himself talking about Khamzat Chimaev.
That’s because Maximov was part of a viral video from an interview TMZ did with Diaz last year. Diaz was asked about fighting Khamzat and ended up turning to Maximov to say he’d take the fight. Maximov was caught off guard and answered with a simple “yeah.”
The video has become pretty popular among the MMA community and Maximov was asked about it earlier week during UFC Vegas 54’s media day. The rising prospect confirmed he was caught off guard, but doubled down on his willingness to fight the undefeated Chimaev.
“I’m down to fight Khamzat. I’m for real about that,” said Maximov. “I think they just caught me … Nate was still talking, and I was just looking at him and for some reason the camera just pointed at me, and I was like, ‘What the f*ck.’ But it happens, I guess.
“But I’m down to fight that fool. I don’t know why everyone is tripping so hard. I mean, he’s a good fighter, (but) everyone in the UFC is good, though. I’m down with it.”
While Maximov competes at middleweight and Chimaev is currently rising the ranks in the UFC welterweight division “Borz” has fought at 185 pounds before. However, Khamzat isn’t likely to fight an unranked opponent like Maximov at this time, but he may end up fighting Diaz after all. That fight is still a work in progress.
As for Maximov, he’ll have his hands full this weekend against Petroski. The young middleweight has won his first two trips to the Octagon while extending his undefeated MMA record to 8-0. If Maximov is able to get past Petroski he could find himself in a top 15 matchup sooner rather than later.
“I think it’s a finish,” Maximov said. “I think it’s a UFC fighter vs. a regional fighter. He was trying to dog the people that I fought, and all of them have winning records, and the two dudes he’s fought in the UFC aren’t even here no more.
“And before that, he was still fighting people with negative records and losing to people with negative records. So I’m like, ‘ How are you trying to diss me when I’m fighting the top prospects?’ I just think he’s kind of delusional, and I think it’s going to show.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 54 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (on ESPN2/ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET.
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