UFC 279 Betting: Chimaev vs. Holland Game Analysis, Odds and Top Picks (Saturday, September 10th, 2022)

Khamzat Chimaev and Kevin Holland will settle their beef inside the octagon as both fighters square off on Saturday, September 10, in UFC 279. The five-round clash is part of the main bouts that will start at 10:00 PM ET at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chimaev, who was supposed to fight Nate Diaz in the main event of the fight card, missed weight by 7.5 pounds in the official weigh-in. Diaz refused to fight Chimaev, forcing UFC president Dana White to tweak the schedule.

The revised card now pits Diaz against Tony Ferguson in the main event, Jingliang Li facing Daniel Rodriguez, and Chimaev taking on Holland. Before the weigh-in shenanigans, Holland and Chimaev were reportedly exchanging harsh words at each other during the pre-fight news conference. Then all of a sudden, a backstage brawl ensued as the camp of Nate Diaz entered the fray and got involved as well. The melee brought new changes to the fight card and MMA fight picks and parlays hope that the Holland-Chimaev clash will be eventful as hyped.

Khamzat Chimaev

Unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev (11-0) steps inside the octagon with an 11-fight winning streak. He also had a lot of people angry by his pre-fight antics and weight-reduction issues going into UFC 279. The fighter from Chechnya, Russia, is an excellent wrestler and is also outstanding in MMA. In his five UFC fights, he was impressive, claiming four “Performance of the Night” honors and a “Fight of the Night” acclaim in his match against Gilbert Burns in April.

It is also worth mentioning that 10 of his 11 wins ended up either by knockout or submission. However, Chimaev’s inability to lose weight in his supposed fight with Nate Diaz may affect his stature in the UFC as he is currently the third-ranked contender in the welterweight division. The question right now is will Chimaev go back to middleweight or remain in the 170-pound class but he’ll be forced to cut a decent amount of weight to keep himself in the welterweight title picture?

Kevin Holland

The man known as the “Trailblazer” was supposed to fight Daniel Rodriguez in UFC 279 but the pre-fight scuffle and weigh-in drama involving Khamzat Chimaev forced UFC president Dana White to rejig the fight card. The changes put Chimaev taking on Holland in a co-main event that will be fought for five rounds. Holland, who has a fight record of 23-7 and one no contest, will have his hands full against a complete fighter like the Russian, but the Riverside, California native is ready for what Chimaev will unleash in the fight. In his 23 wins, Holland has won 13 by knockout and six others by submission. He has never been knocked out in his career thanks to his strong chin. The five-time “Performance of the Night” winner needs to come up with another world-class-worthy performance to beat Chimaev and put him back in UFC championship talks in the future.

Khamzat Chimaev vs. Kevin Holland Betting Numbers

	Chimaev	Holland
Record	11-0-0	23-7-0 (1 NC)
Last Fight	Win	Win
Country	Sweden	USA
Height	6’2″	6’3″
Weight	170	170
Reach	75	81
Win by KO/TKO	55%	57%
Submissions	36%	26%
Decisions	9%	17%
Strikes Landed Per Minute	7.89	3.90
Striking Accuracy	59%	54%
Striking Absorbed Per Minute	4.30	2.41
Striking Defense	41%	55%
Takedown Average	3.23	0.84
Takedown Accuracy	66%	43%
Takedown Defense	100%	50%
Submission Average	2.7	0.6

Chimaev vs. Holland Summary

This fight has the capacity to receive one of the bonuses in store for this fight card. The animosity between Holland and Chimaev is fever-pitched following the backstage brawl and the ceremonial weigh-ins after White changed the card due to the Russian missing the weight limit. The weight issues may affect the Russian’s condition leading to the fight against Holland and may fall short if the fight goes the distance. Despite the condition, Chimaev is given an enormous chance of winning the bout against Holland, UFC oddsmakers have said. Holland needs to play a perfect fight to stand a chance of winning against Chimaev.