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Featured Image Credit: UFC/Alamy/Instagram
Topics: Khamzat Chimaev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, UFC
Nasir Jabbar
Topics: Khamzat Chimaev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, UFC
Khamzat Chimaev's Muslim teammate has responded to Khabib Nurmagomedov's scathing 'no Muslim' criticism.
Nurmagomedov hit out at Chimaev following his antics in the build-up to his re-arranged showdown against Kevin Holland at UFC 279.
'Borz' had an altercation with the American which saw the pre-fight press conference cancelled and failed to make weight for his original main-event clash against Nate Diaz.
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The UFC legend claimed Chimaev needs more Muslims in his entourage.
"If you are a Muslim, you should have good people around you," he said during a fundraiser.
"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.'"
Nurmagomedov added: "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."
Chimaev fired back, sharing a message in a since-deleted post on social media.
And the fighter's long-time teammate Reza Madadi has now jumped to the defence of the 28-year-old, as he disagreed with Nurmagomedov's criticism.
He also made reference to the former UFC lightweight champion's own weight cut issues in the past.
"Dear @khabib_nurmagomedov , my muslim brother," the former UFC fighter wrote in an Instagram post. "Firstly I would like say I have a huge respect for you as an athlete and for all your achievements in our beloved sport of MMA. I am also very proud of how you represent our religion, belief and God in all your interviews and appearances.
"But, I would like to give my point on your opinion on @khamzat_chimaev not having a muslim team around him and that was supposed to be the reason of him missing the weight. I have to disagree with you on this part.
"Not only have Khamzat had muslim friends and teammates such as me around him from day 1, but also from many other religions and backgrounds, The have been people that have been with him from the start, giving him love, sharing blood, sweat and joy and done everything to bring him to where he is now."
Madadi added: "Being a muslim doesn’t mean we are perfect and flawless, trust me, I have done many mistakes in my life as many people know. With all due respect, so have you.
"So mentioning having muslim team will make you perfect, I have to disagree, having a team that cares about you. in good times and bad times, no matter what belief or religion they have is far more important. And that is something Khamzat has.
"There are several issues that made Khamzat miss the weight but those reasons stay in the team. But he is still young and he will learn from his mistakes. If a big Champion like you, did learn from your mistake when you missed weight, I have no doubt that our brother Khamzat will do as well."