Khamzat Chimaev found himself involved in yet another scuffle outside of the cage on Saturday afternoon following the main event of UFC 280 at Etihad Arena at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
Video surfaced online that shows the UFC welterweight chatting with Abubakar Nurmagomedov, the cousin of former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, in the crowd. At first things appeared to be cordial, but it escalated quickly with some shoving before Chimaev threw a haymaker in Nurmagomedov’s direction before security stepped in and was able to separate the two.
Khamzat Chimaev and Abubakar Nurmagomedov went from 0-100 wtf pic.twitter.com/Qmbt5zx4xs
— Out Of Context MMA (@oocmma) October 22, 2022
Video of the brawl between Abubakar and Khamzat for those asking pic.twitter.com/okdH0WH2E6
— Jцdochаd (@judobetter995) October 22, 2022
In one clip, Khabib can be seen looking on from inside of the cage as the drama unfolds.
Bagarre entre Khamzat Chimaev et l’équipe de Khabib et d’Islam selon RMC ???? #UFC280 pic.twitter.com/yJRqZHo4fR
— Ilies Mkt (@IliesMkt) October 22, 2022
Chimaev and Team Khabib had been exchanging words on social media over the past few weeks, with the Nurmagomedov’s criticizing Chimaev for leaving Dagestan for a comfortable life and essentially forgetting where he came from and letting fame get to his head.
Khabib had also mentioned Chimaev needs to surround himself with more Muslims.
“If you are a Muslim, you should have good people around you,” Nurmagomedov said, via the Daily Mail. “Muslims who can say ‘Hey, don’t do this.’ 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 that 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.”
The incident took place after Khabib’s longtime friend and protegee, Islam Makhachev, dominated former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira en route to a submission victory to claim gold at 155-pounds.
Earlier in the night, Abubakar scored a unanimous decision victory on the UFC 280 preliminary card.
