Khamzat Chimaev aiming to 'smash' Nate Diaz at UFC 279 in Las Vegas
"Sweden is my home, everyone is supporting me in Sweden. We're gonna show the world where we come from," Chimaev told reporters ahead of his main event clash with Diaz, for whom it will be the final fight on his UFC contract.
Despite being an accomplished wrestler in his youth, Chimaev had no plans to become a fighter when he moved to Sweden at the age of 18.
"I didn't know what the UFC was at that time. I was working somewhere, trying to learn my Swedish," he told reporters at a media day before the event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.
"One of my best friends, my best brother, took me to the MMA gym. He said 'come to the gym' … I went to the gym, we sparred, I smashed the guys. The coach asked me what MMA record I had, I said 'it's my first time in an MMA gym',” Chimaev said.
"After one or two weeks I had my first fight, I won in like 20 seconds, I don't remember, and then everyone was saying 'you should start (taking MMA seriously), you're good at that'."
Spurred on by his early success, Chimaev moved to Stockholm and began training at the Allstars gym which is home to UFC light-heavyweight Alexander Gustavsson (35), and a six-fight win streak led to him being snapped up by the UFC.
He has since added five more victories to become a contender for the welterweight title held by Briton Leon Edwards (31), but first, he must get through the potential banana skin that is Diaz.
The Californian has no problem throwing a spanner in the works, having brought the juggernaut that was Conor McGregor’s (34) burgeoning career to a juddering halt with a shock submission win over the Irishman in 2016.
"It feels amazing I'm fighting Nate Diaz, one of the guys who has been like 15 years in the UFC, one of the legends. Maybe it's his last fight, who knows, (but) I'm happy," Chimaev said.
"I'm going to go take his head off," Chimaev said. "I come here, I don't take the points and play the games - I come here to smash somebody and take his head."