Khamzat Chimaev fires back at Khabib over criticism with savage dig on social media, then deletes message

Khamzat Chimaev has responded to Khabib Nurmagomedov's criticism over his failed UFC 279 weight cut, sharing a savage message in a since-deleted post on social media.

Nurmagomedov took aim at Chimaev following his antics in the lead up to his re-arranged bout against Kevin Holland at UFC 279 last weekend.

'Borz' clashed with the American which saw the pre-fight press conference cancelled and failed to make weight for his original main-event showdown against Nate Diaz.

Image: Alamy

The former UFC lightweight king claimed Chimaev needs more Muslims in his team.

“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."

Well, Chimaev has hit out at Nurmagomedov in response to his scathing criticism.

The 28-year-old responded to a fan who claimed to have seen him 'hanging out at a restaurant for hours' the night before weigh-ins took place by referencing Nurmagomedov's own weight cut issues in the past.

"I ate too much tiramisu, that’s why my fight with Tony Ferguson been cancelled five times," he wrote.

The reply has since been removed from Instagram.

Image: Instagram

Chimaev ended up submitting Holland in a catchweight bout to improve his record to 12-0 (6-0 in the UFC).