Khamzat Chimaev vs Kevin Holland Prediction: the Main Bout of the Night

On the night of September 11 in Las Vegas the big UFC 279 tournament will take place. In the main fight of the evening, last years sensation Khamzat Chimaev will share the cage with Kevin Holland.

The bout will take place at inter middleweight. Chimaev is ranked number three in the division's official challenger rankings, Holland is not in the top 15 of the official rankings. In bookmaker's betting odds the big favorite is the Chechen Viking.

This fight at UFC 279 took shape literally a day before the tournament started. The thing is, Chimaev, who was supposed to fight Diaz, didn't make his weight and the organizers came up with an ingenious move - they put Ferguson in the main event and gave Chimaev as his opponent Kevin Holland, the same one he fought backstage before the press conference. Which, by the way, was canceled because of that.

Chimaev fought in the Arab league Brave CF until 2020, but was suddenly invited to the UFC (when the league lacked fighters due to the coronavirus pandemic). He quickly strangled the experienced John Phillips in his first fight, and it was at this point that the timid talk of a budding new star began. Khamzat's next fights quickly silenced the skeptics - three early wins in the first round, several crazy records and an incredible fight with Gilbert Burns convinced almost everyone that sooner or later Chimaev would become a champion.

His last fight was in April of this year with Burns, the number two ranking at the time. The opponents did not refuse to be merciless, both of them were knocked out more than once. The fight was very spectacular. And if, as we felt, Chimaev lost the first half of the fight, he made up for it in the second half and won by unanimous decision. It was his first victory on points, but he proved he could fight even in three rounds.

Holland is a pretty famous fighter, but he's not a real star yet. Nevertheless, he won his last two fights and did it early - he knocked out Alex Oliveira with elbows and choked out Tim Means.

A lot of my family is nerve racked cause they know I can't wrestle, but I'm happy cause I know I'm getting paid. So it doesn't matter. Let's do this. I never said I wanted to fight the the guy. I mean, they needed somebody to step up because the guy couldn't make the weight - anywhere, anytime, and anyplace. I guess I'm that guy, modern-day Cowboy Cerrone.

Kevin Holland

Everything is in Hamzat's hands, and it's very interesting what his plan for the first round will be. Either he will throw the fists (which is good for Holland, he knows how to fight in a standing position), or he will take him down and finish quickly on the ground. Khmzat is ambitious, so the first option can't be ruled out. But the intrigue is still whether Kevin can live up to the first break.

The bookies think he probably can, and that seems about right. Holland is not stupid enough to get into an open confrontation, he will be looking for his chance in counterattacks and will be as concentrated as possible not to make a fatal mistake. And given the level of the fighter, we can assume that he'll be enough for at least a round.